I Think I Hate You
by Hikaru-wa-shiawase-ni-eien-ni
Summary: Quinn & Rachel are in a loveless marriage with each other because it was the best option after they met each other again. Rachel, a Broadway star who is too much of a diva for anyone else & Quinn, the ultimate Ice Queen on any movie set or TV Show she is working on. How will they cope with all of their "dislike" for each other and their loneliness? Quinn's secret started it all.
1. This Is Amour

Chapter One

This Is Amour

It had been plastered all over the news everywhere in the United States, and a few other countries as well, that Broadway's Sweetheart, Rachel Berry, and one of film's biggest A-listers, Quinn Fabray, were getting married. They were 24 and 25 respectively and it was all over the tabloids, news reports on TV, local and nationwide, on the front cover of magazines and even in the newspaper depending on the city. It was made to be the romantic match of the century since no one had even known that the two had known each other. Something about them dating in secret just made it seem even more romantic to the public's eye, and in hindsight it was just that: a farce. Talk shows held interviews with the soon to be married couple separately and together. It was the biggest thing to occur since the royal wedding of Prince William and Duchess Kate Middleton just five years before that. That is … what it was made to appear as anyways. The truth of the matter … it couldn't be more different, more of a sham and scam. Quinn Fabray had tortured Rachel Berry in high school relentlessly and sought to humiliate her in every way possible to an almost obsessive degree. Only people from the small town of Lima, Ohio really knew about that though and most of them were limited to the scope of the students and teachers of the high school.

It all started when Rachel discovered a not so little secret about Quinn after a one night stand gone horribly wrong.

They were at a party hosted by Mercedes Jones, singing sensation who dominated with her R&B soul. She was a mutual friend of both and it had been a rather private party with very limited invitations given out and one common factor was all of the successful friends who once conquered singing show choir together in the form of Glee Club. Mercedes had a hunk who looked suspiciously similar to Sam in a few ways, blonde hair, built body, large mouth, but seemed to be a better match for Mercedes and much more intelligent. He was witty and charming in many ways and he was someone she met in the singing industry one day and they just hit it off well and had been dating since.

It was at this party that Quinn and Rachel had gotten quite drunk because of how jealous they both were. Puck, who was one of the few decent football players that graduated from McKinley high school, had a very surprising Sam Evans in his arms at the party. They were very much unreserved in their very public affections for each other, once a horny Puck always a horny Puck. Even despite the fact that they were extremely drunk on all of the alcohol they managed to consume their very obvious need for each other showed and they eventually disappeared somewhere and some obvious noise could be heard if one concentrated hard enough over the din of music going on. Needless to say a certain room was mutually avoided by everyone and it was obvious which one since it was very much locked. Mercedes had been very vocal over the fact that she expected, and would whoop some ass, if anyone, _anyone_, so much as looked at her room and thought about doing the na-sty in her room. She made it very clear that her room was off limits and any offenders were going to have their asses sued off of them … which translated into "you best just stay away 'cause this girl be tripping if you don't." Everyone just knew to stay away even without the warnings made throughout the night periodically so no matter how drunk anyone was they got the message.

Matt Rutherford was becoming fairly well known for his screen writing and producing various modestly successful shows and movies. He actually came together with Santana to help write and produce a show together and they were gaining new fans daily for the witty writing and the great chemistry between their two leads. Even he had someone with him at this party! The only two who showed up alone had been Quinn and Rachel. At first only Rachel was slightly bothered by this but by the time it was nearing Christmas Quinn and Rachel were quite drunk and they were also talking to each other, mostly Rachel talking with Quinn silently agreeing very drunkenly. In the end it was too much for both of them to take and they eventually just left so they wouldn't feel alone. Rachel had arrived via Blaine and Kurt courteously driving her to the party. Quinn had driven herself to the party borrowing her old car from her family's home. Things just seemed too perfect, too easy, for them to leave because of how successful and not lonely everyone else was.

Brittany Pierce was a very successful and up and coming dancer featured in many high profile music videos with singers like Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and many more. She was also very much in love with Santana Lopez. Santana herself was, surprisingly enough, an up and coming director and writer to a slightly lesser known, but becoming quite popular, TV Show _Becoming Pride_. The show's premise is centered on the two female leads that, after meeting and becoming roommates in college, had a lot of people wondering about all of the subtext between them. The thing that kept it interesting was they always seemed to be dancing around each other and had a slew of people they dated that one or the other always found unsuitable. It was currently airing a third season after the first season established their close bond with each other despite the fact that they were always bickering in a couple-like way. They were most definitely a will they, won't they couple that kept drawing viewers in, and the fact that it was two strong leading ladies made it even more interesting because of its rarity.

Artie was a very young director who had gotten lucky over one movie he directed. All of his other movies had strange direction and were left with very little to no notoriety amongst movie festivals. His ideas were always very interesting but when translated into film he didn't do as well with conveying it. Regardless of that fact he had interesting vision that was different from what other directors usually did with what was given to them but what he chose to do with it made it lose the vision he originally had that was unique. He could have done so much with what he was given but because his directing skills weren't as developed yet he had trouble finding actors and actresses that could fulfill the roles for his movies and so his vision wasn't ever nearly as grand. Despite all of these things though, he had a woman by his side at Mercedes' party.

Mike was a successful dancer dancing in movies like Step It Up and music videos with Usher, Chris Brown, and TVXQ among many other recording artists. Tina herself was moderately successful in Broadway Musicals mostly based in venues in various big cities but sometimes based in Chicago and was sometimes in the state of California with Mike. They had been together since high school and were still going on strong and were both engaged to be married but had yet to set a date since they were both so busy with their careers. The only time these two had ever struggled was after Mike graduated from high school and left Tina in high school and a rift had come between them after that. They got through it after being apart from each other for a year and were going as strong as ever now.

Kurt was starting his own fashion agency after getting his start working with Isabelle Kempt. Blaine was often working on various Broadway Revivals and the occasional book and TV or movie adaptations of Broadway Classics. Blaine finally popped the question to Kurt at this party amongst the Gleeks and that was one of the last straws for both Quinn and Rachel before they blindly left together after they both realized that they were the only ones alone at this party.

Finn was with a girl that was only with him because he was easy to control, moderately good looking, didn't question her, and most of all doted on her with any and all of the money he had to his name. Overall Finn didn't have much to envy but he still had someone no matter how truly obvious her infidelity and gold digging ways were. In fact she seemed to have more eyes for Kurt, as blatantly gay as he was, Puck, despite the fact that Sam was all over him, and even Rachel, who was lonely and very depressed but also notably successful, and Quinn, who appeared as if she had little to no interest in most anyone at the party other than her small smiles and chuckles around her friends. All in all Quinn showed almost no emotion whatsoever and Rachel hid almost all of hers as best she could. They were both known for their superb acting after all so what would a little refined wine do in their systems? Loosen their inhibitions? Definitely not. Let a few skeletons out of the closet? Wouldn't dream of it. End up in a one night stand that was immediately spotted by paparazzi, a very sleazy one at that, who had ended up following these two very successful, very high profile, too, women out of the party to the hotel room and caused a scandal that their managers and agents and publicists immediately sought to smooth over with lies that ended up in wedding nuptials after a certain secret was let out? _Never_ in a _million_ years would _that_ ever happen. Nope.

Everyone at the party had been having a grand old time with their significant others, soon to be spouses in some cases, when Rachel suggested something very devious to Quinn.

"Let's go." Rachel stated boldly.

Quinn, having not been nearly as annoyed with her presence for the last four hours, looked at Rachel with questioning eyes. "What do you mean?" Quinn asked with the barest hint of hesitation in her voice. Drunk she may be but she was not stupid and she was sure she would agree because she had already been embarrassed the entire party because none of their 'friends' really talk to them. They were the isolated singles club at this party and it truly showed when Mercedes had only initially greeted them, Brittany had hugged Quinn while Santana merely nodded in their direction, and Puck and Sam were all over each other even as they said hi to them. Things only got worse as the party progressed but all in all there was just one message being broadcasted almost obnoxiously to the both of them: You two are _very_ alone and lonely. They didn't like it and it was where Rachel's magnificent plan came about, the one that started it all.

"Let's go and have some fun for ourselves since they are all too busy to even look at us." Rachel said with a pout evident in her voice and, surely enough, when Quinn looked over she saw the pout on Rachel's lips and she found herself agreeing before she could stop herself.

"Okay." And that was the start of their night from hell because they were followed by someone who had noticed their leave. This person who saw them was not even a participant in the part, meaning they were not invited, but saw the two high profile celebrities leave the party from a party he, himself, was attending. What was a gossip writer to do? Follow them of course and follow them he did … to a bar, almost giving up when nothing happened, and then ultimately to the biggest hotel in Lima, Ohio.

Jacob Ben Israel had always been a sleaze ball … the sleaziest sleaze of all sleazes for sure. He had never been liked by anyone when it came to the gossip that he spread: sick fantasies or overly exaggerated truths that turned into lies more often than not that left massive carnage in his wake. He was aware with the public's immense dislike of him even before he became the next Perez Hilton in terms of notoriety despite how false almost every claim was found out to be after its initial hit on the News wave. This time however he had gotten proof that was very much legitimate even if the story was thoroughly embellished and there was no real proof other than the word of the hotel staff who had seen them come in as well as a few guests still awake in the dead of the night and the staff member who confirmed they got a room with a single bed. Because the town was small and the hotel only three stars most of the public didn't know what to make of the pictures plastered all over the newsstands until only two weeks later there was news of wedding vows soon to take place for the "very much in love couple Faberry."

Jacob knew that there had to be some scoop to be found here somehow between them. There was a feeling in his perverted mind, gut, and another unmentionable place, that something was definitely going on between the two famous women. He was going to prove that there was a scandal to be had before the night was over. He knew that he had what he needed from the information that he was given by the rather weak willed hotel staff member that had given the two women their hotel room key. That was the first indicator for Jacob Ben Israel that there was a story to be told in the first place.

Not long after he confirmed the few suspicions he could there was an article posted online on his website and immediately thousands of people had read it and seen the pictures themselves. The article itself had several pictures of the "newly exposed couple sneaking away for a little holiday fun alone."

_A Secret Couple Exposed For The First Time!_ (the article's title)

There was a picture of the 'happy couple' leaving a party together.

_It was on Christmas Eve nearing midnight that this reporter spotted of New York's Broadway Sweetheart, one Rachel Barbra Berry, and well known A-Lister, Quinn Lucy Fabray, leaving the party of R&B sensation, Mercedes Jones, to go to a hotel together. While nothing about this seems too out of the ordinary considering I, myself, know these two have known each other since high school. It begs the question of what they might have been doing in the hotel together though when everyone else at this tre exclusive party. Well this reporter set to find out for himself and found something rather interesting in the bar and hotel with many eye witnesses._

A large picture of the two, with the tall blonde tugging the brunette's hand in her own, was not very scandalous but did pose questions for the public. Since when were these two even on any type of terms with each other? The public had never known that there was a connection between the two because they were never seen together and had never spoken about each other before.

Underneath the large photo of a rather eager seeming blonde, not noticeably drunk since they both held their liquor very well, there was more text for the article.

_So what did this ace reporter find out while in the hotel asking questions to the various hotel staff and guests? Well here's the scoop!_

_When asked about the rooming arrangements a hotel staff member, who will remain anonymous, confirmed that they did indeed rent a hotel room with a single bed and bar. Guests still awake at the time and milling about the hotel's lounge area said that the two were standing very close to each other and seemed rather eager to make it to their hotel room. They were also seen holding hands and even nuzzling at one point as established Ice Queen Quinn Fabray whispered something that had Broadway Diva Rachel Berry giggling and nodding. It was under the general consensus that these two were definitely very buddy, buddy with each other upon arrival and this reporter even took it a step further to find out more!_

There was taken of the two looking very snugly indeed as they stood in front of the hotel staff member to pay for their room and get their keys.

_What makes all of this worth mentioning though one might ask? When looking at a few very well known facts there are never any scandals between these two leading ladies and any other person in the world. The rumors of boyfriends, or significant female others, have never surfaced once from the time of their rise to stardom until now. Sure there have been kisses exchanged, and hugging at times, sometimes a little more … but all for movie roles and never anywhere else. Every time exclusives are taken or interviews are held behind the scenes there are never any indicators that these two women have anyone more in their life. So, for these two actresses to be spotted going to a bar and then a hotel together is very questionable indeed._

_Scandal, scandal, scandal was found by this reporter when interviewing the neighbors of these two later on in the morning after staying for the night and getting a good night's rest. One neighbor complained about hearing some shrill noises over their TV screen a few times and just ended up turning the volume up a few notches so they could no longer be heard. The other neighbor complained about having been woken up from some pleasant dreams during their beauty sleep and being unable to fall back asleep for about another hour when their noisiness finally stopped. This neighbor was quite certain that whoever was next door was most assuredly having sex, sex, and more sex for quite some time. Several people entering and leaving their rooms throughout the night, while this reporter was interviewing various hotel personnel and guests, reported hearing … specific noises, most likely moaning as I'm sure these two famous women are tigress's under the sheet, while walking by a certain room._

_More hard hitting facts from sources are …_

And the article went on about various quotes from people questioned by JBI.

At the end of the rather long article with particularly juicy gossip was this last question addressed to the readers of his famous website.

_So what do you all think of this very scandalous seeming rendezvous from these very two sexy ladies? Couple in secret? Just friends? Tell this reporter your thoughts and reaction!_

Within minutes of the article being posted up comments were being left on his website. Within the next two hours both celebrity's names were trending on twitter through the hashtag of AceJBI. Not an hour later after both women's names trended on twitter there was an explosion within the world of tumblr as well. Magazines of all variety became aware of the article written by Jacob Ben Israel only scant hours after he published it and not much longer, while still in the middle of sleep, both Quinn Lucy Fabray and Rachel Barbra Berry's phones blared and vibrated loudly with a vengeance to awaken the startled sleeping women.

Who would be calling them while they were very much hung-over and on Christmas Day of all days?

There was a much more pressing issue to deal with though that they both realized after waking up slowly. Quinn could feel someone's warm body entwined with her own. Someone's front was pressed against hers, arms around her waist, and legs entwined together intimately. It took another few moments for Quinn to recognize the body as very much … _female_ before her eyes snapped open and she let out a quiet yelp and nearly arched herself off of the narrow bed. She was so shocked especially now because there was someone else who _knew_ about her _secret_. Very few people knew about this secret of hers and those people who did she had limited to just her agent, her parents (because they just had to know and had tried to "fix her" by the time she was a teenager and had told them about her first crush) and her slightly more understanding sister, and her two best friends. And now there was obviously going to be another person who had to keep quiet about her biggest secret and fear coming out. She just hoped that whoever she had slept with would be reasonable and if not that they could be bought out with something that she could give them.

She couldn't look … she just could not bring herself to look. Here was someone who could potentially become her biggest nightmare, someone who could be her biggest fear coming to life. She wanted to at least take a peak but her arms were equally wrapped around this person's waist … this very female person's waist. If it had been a man she slept with last night she knew she wouldn't have very many problems getting the guy to shut up because men were so very easy to appease one way or another. They were very simple creatures compared to women. They didn't let their emotions rule them nearly as much when it came to decision making and they were easy to buy because of how very simple minded they could be. A woman though? A woman was complex, manipulative (sometimes), catty (most of the time), and hard to deal with because of the emotion factor. That and women were much harder to buy off when it was necessary to do so because women wanted so much more than men did when it came to possessions and materialistic needs.

She heard the soft moaning of the unidentified woman and thought she sounded familiar. And then she felt a few twitches from the arms wrapped around her as well as the legs entwined with her own. She was having a very slight panic attack at this point because it was evident that the woman in her arms was starting to stir. She finally forced herself to look down just in time to see the most endearing sight of one Rachel Berry wrinkling her nose adorably.

… She just thought the words 'endearing', 'Rachel Berry', and 'adorably' in the same sentence … the world just had to be ending right now.

It took another moment of thought before full realization truly kicked in just in time for Rachel Barbra Berry to shriek as loudly as Quinn was panicking inside her own mind.

She was _in bed_ with someone she had _tortured_ in high school by the name of _Rachel Barbra Berry_. _Rachel Barbra Berry_ who was a _celebrated_ Broadway Star known for winning a Tony her first year on Broadway as well as earning an Academy Award and was currently a nominee for the Grammy Awards. There was no way that her manager would or could let this slide because they were both very well known women in the world of entertainment. Then again there was always the possibility that no one would ever know about what had transpired this night and that no one would be the wiser. The phone's ring tone and vibrating jolted her back to reality as she suddenly sprang apart from one Rachel Berry and she fell off of the bed in a lump of massive ache after having jerked her head from the fall.

It was then that Rachel herself jolted up from the bed, awake, with a shrill cry of "wha-?! Huh? I'm awake!"

Quinn cursed herself for once again finding the diva adorable.

And just then another thought occurred to the slightly muddled mind of Quinn Fabray. "I just lost my virginity?!" She screeched in shock. Quinn Fabray had never had sex before in her life and she knew that there was definitely no way that she had kept it in tack considering how intimate her embrace had been with the diva. That and a few foggy memories had resurfaced and they were decidedly steamy and starting to turn her on slightly even though she was trying to keep that bit of information concealed from the diva lying in bed, still trying to wake up.

Rachel was still in a whirlwind of confusion as her mind tried to catch up with everything that was going on. She looked down at herself and noticed that she was very much naked. She looked over to her right to see the form of one Quinn Fabray lying face down on the ground muttering quietly to herself, most likely cursing herself. Rachel was starting to make some startled connections … she was hearing moans of pleasure, seeing bodies sliding against each other delightfully and … and … Quinn's … Quinn's …

Rachel let out a stupefied shriek, "Quinn?!"

Quinn quite startled herself by the sudden shrill pronouncement of her name looked over at the diva from her spot on the floor. "Yes?" she asked timidly and in a very un-Quinn-like that gave the diva pause. She supposed it must have been because they were both in shock for nearly the same reasons. Surely, not every day one wakes up to see that the person who _tortured_ them in high school had _slept_ with them … and they _liked_ it and _had sex_ for hours in a hotel room … and vice versa. There was, surely, some kind of guide in the book stores called _Dummies Guide for Celebrities to Avoid Scandals from Sleeping with another Celebrity_ just for this very specific situation. If not Rachel was most assuredly going to write one for herself as future reference as well as other Celebrities use to avoid situations like this. She would make sure it was only in the market for her high profile friends' benefit and that the public was none the wiser.

"Di-di- did we … I mean … well you know … and are you … um well … I don't … this is …" Rachel had no idea what to say or how to start this conversation. "High school never prepared me for this … or college for that matter," Rachel muttered darkly.

Just then the phone rang yet again to interrupt both of the celebrities from their very unknowing silence. _Yes!,_ they thought! _Surely my manager will know what to do about this! And maybe if I'm lucky the press doesn't even know about this slight indiscretion._ But it was obvious that this was clearly just wishful thinking and hope on their part because why else would their managers be calling them right now before noon on Christmas morning if not for this very particular reason? Happy holiday wishes? Most definitely not.

Quinn didn't dare get up because she was very much naked and she did not want one Rachel Berry looking upon her naked form for any reason whatsoever. Rachel herself was facing a very similar dilemma because though they had indeed seen each other in the nude from having done what they did last night those memories were very fuzzy for both at best.

Rachel was the first to break the silence with her timid voice, "um … if … if you want to answer your phone I'll … I'll um … I'll look away so you can go and grab your phone." And Rachel made sure to turn away from Quinn so that only her back was visible to the blonde as she lay down on the bed.

Quinn was grateful beyond belief and said as much as she quickly dressed herself and ran out of the room with her cell phone in hand just as it rang yet again. "Thank you … Rachel," Quinn whispered softly. She really was truly grateful for the chance to actually answer her manager this time because she was sure that she was anxious. To give herself some privacy she had entered the en suite bathroom. Quinn and Rachel had gotten the best room the hotel could offer which was a moderate sized living room with two loveseats and a small kitchenette that connected with a bedroom and included an en suite bathroom. Overall it wasn't a cheap motel but neither was it a Hilton in grandiose appearance and service.

Quinn wasn't quite sure what she was expecting to be met with on the other line but she wasn't expecting a calm but very obviously upset Veronica. "Have you seen or even perhaps read any of the things that have been exploding all over the internet have you?" Quinn responded by shaking her head and uttering a soft and hesitant 'no?' in response. There was a deep sigh on the other end of the line and muttering before Veronica started again. "Okay … well then I suppose that it is true … or that at least a small grain of it is true." There was a pause. "The trending topic on both twitter and tumblr are both you and … Broadway's very own sweetheart … Rachel Barbra Berry … and … how you were both spotted at the Hampton Inn in your hometown. You were spotted entering together and were quoted as being very … intimate with each other. We have to fix this if she knows about you know what," and Quinn knew what Veronica was referring to quite well but she wasn't even sure if Rachel really knew or not. Then again how could she not have figured out Quinn's biggest secret considering what they did last night? There was no way she didn't know at this point even things were quite fuzzy between both of their memories.

"God damn it! I'm sorry V. I'm … what are we going to do about this? I know I should probably talk to her to see what we can do to fix this because … well it is already a big scandal that involves both of us and we're not exactly unknown people when it comes to the media." Quinn was feeling extremely nervous but she knew that it was her own fault for losing control seeing everyone happy with their lives and loved by someone else. It made her feel the acute ache in her chest from being alone for so long. The last time she had had someone else to actually rant to or just talk to was in high school. Brittany was her best friend and Santana her second in command even if sometimes they didn't see eye to eye. They were all still each other's shields and defenders when something went wrong or someone challenged them.

Veronica was silent before she spoke hesitantly. "Do you think I could talk to Rachel for a moment perhaps?" Quinn was surprised the request but obliged anyways and left the bathroom only to hear Rachel speaking in soft tones on the phone.

"We'll have to wait a bit before that's even possible." Veronica made a noise of acknowledgement before Quinn spoke up again. "Say … um, V, can you tell me what it is you're going to talk to her about? I don't want to do this blindly because I was already thrown into this mess without any warning and the slightest indication that it would blow up on the internet so quickly."

Veronica's sigh was evident on the other side of the phone and it made Quinn's nervousness spike as well as her shoulders tense a bit in preparation for what she was about to say. "I have an idea that will most likely be something that neither of you will like very well at all … nor, perhaps, her manager, who would be reluctant at first as well. I'm sure that after you hear my reasoning you will understand though." This caused even more nervousness to course through a very tense Quinn Fabray.

Quinn was sure she was going to regret agreeing to this but she did so anyways with trepidation, "okay."

Rachel on her end was talking to her manager and she did not like what she was hearing. In fact she was a bit terrified that Quinn was going to go into a rampage at any given moment because she knew that she must also be hearing similar things about images of them having been posted up with an article by the deplorable JBI. JBI, who used to be nothing more than a despicable fibber and liar every time he wrote an article on his blog in high school, was now one of the most popular article writers on the internet. He had learned finesse and how to equally balance his embellishments with facts now so that they weren't complete lies and came off as merely speculation as opposed to outrageous lies like they had in high school. It was now much more difficult to call him out on his lies and trash. He had become wiser over the years and this was one such instance of it showing.

Rachel blanched immediately when 'Josh Piekler' flashed on her phone. He was a big diva, sometimes more than her, and he sometimes became lost in his diva world. She had spoken into the phone tentatively before he exploded on her in Joshie fashion with questions and news of what hit the internet everywhere at 8:00 AM this morning.

Rachel's jaw dropped from pure information overload as word after word left his mouth. "Girl! Do you have any idea what this is doing to the internet?" He didn't wait for a response, "twitter almost crashed today! Also … why didn't you tell me that you had a something, something going on with that hot ass Quinn Fabray? She is damn _fine!_ Mh! Mm-mm-mm-_mmm!_" There was a pause, "but you know that I'm completely uninterested because I like my di-"

Rachel interrupted at that, "I don't need to know that!" she squeaked indignantly. She knew what word he was going to say and she knew for a fact that she didn't want to hear it.

Josh laughed on the other end of the line in response knowing why she was uncomfortable. She was such a closet case sometimes. She always wondered why she hated her first time when she was 18 and how she never really tried again after that. The answer was pretty obvious to a gay man such as himself.

"Rachel?"

Rachel was startled out of her conversation with Josh when she heard the soft voice speaking. Rachel was actually quite surprised that she hadn't been mean, cruel, or angry when she spoke. She knew how Quinn lashed out when something major was stressing her out in her life. She had been through the game and dance quite often but no matter how hard Quinn tried Rachel always dusted herself off and picked herself back up like it was nothing. It was days like those that Rachel was reminded that she was but a single obstacle in her dreams of stardom.

Rachel hummed in acknowledgement and Quinn continued. "My manager would like to speak to you … well to your manager about a plan she has." Rachel said as much to her manager and he was simply _delighted_ to hear what Veronica had to say and as they discussed details Quinn stared at Rachel and Rachel stared at the floor.

Quinn was a ticking time bomb at this point. She couldn't stand the silence anymore she burst out the first words that came to her mind, "do you remember what happened last night?" she said quickly before she lost her nerves. Rachel looked up for a single moment, forgetting that she _wasn't_ supposed to look at the stunning blonde. Her eyes immediately zeroed in on a certain body part of Quinn before she looked away and shook her head in an obvious lie. Quinn scoffed. "Of course you did. Who am I kidding?" Rachel continued to look at the ground when a noise in the background had them both looking at the table where Quinn's phone was ringing. Quinn's intense, golden-hazel staring had been unnerving Rachel anyways so it was a relief for her.

When Quinn picked up the phone what she heard next had her yelling much too loudly, instead of hissing softly into the phone she practically screamed, "a wedding?" And then she fainted. Quinn Ice Queen Fabray fainted into a startled Rachel Broadway Diva Berry's quick arms.

Needless to say there was a wedding little more than two months later and the sparks have been flying since.

So sorry to all of my readers waiting on Losing Your Memory but I was working for nearly two weeks straight without a day off and on my day off I slept for the most part. I must say my paycheck was _very_ nice with all of the holiday bonuses; I worked on Christmas and New Year's as well. So tell me what you all think since this idea came to me the other day and I just had to write it out!^^

姫宮光る


	2. Perfect

Chapter 2

Perfect

It was very silent in the hotel room as Quinn sat on the floor by the bedside table with her back to the bed and Rachel sat on the bed with her legs crossed. They were both still digesting the fact that they had gotten into such a mess and now their managers were suggesting they get married to cover up what happened. Under normal circumstances they wouldn't have suggested something so extreme but there was something in this particular situation that called for such an extreme. Fear of Quinn's secret being exposed was the biggest factor in this decision. The fear of her deepest, darkest secret was her manager's concern and because of this, between the managers, this decision was what they saw as the best solution. Rachel was now a liability for Quinn's career and so here they were. Rachel's manager was not told about the details of the secret but was only told that it could potentially hurt Quinn's career if it was ever discovered by others.

Rachel wanted to rock back and forth on the bed while she chewed on her thumb. She was still in shock about discovering a secret that made everything change. Every interaction they had in high school … every derogatory name Quinn called her … it all made sense now why she did and said all of those things to her. Rachel felt mystified by these thoughts because it was all a projection defense mechanism on Quinn's part. The part of Quinn that she hated most was what made her so insecure and that was how she most likely started targeting Rachel on that first day of high school. There must have been something about her that made Quinn feel even more insecure in her own skin … something like a constant reminder of who she wanted to be. Rachel guessed that it must have been that she was rather feminine in many ways, her short stature, her small, feminine hands, and her constantly wearing short skirts. They must have all been reminders to Quinn why she hated herself so much. Rachel could tell from the very beginning that Quinn hated herself, had absolutely no love for herself whatsoever.

Rachel thought back to each instance and every insult hurled her way passed pink lips: RuPaul, man hands, treasure trail, stubbles, and so many more. They were all derogatory and rude but they always pointed to one thing and one thing alone: the de-feminizing of her as a young woman. The realization of this alone sent Rachel reeling with a new perspective on the things that had been said and done all through high school. Quinn never let her boyfriends do anything with her and she was known as the ultimate catch because she was captain of the celibacy club and known for having a secure chastity belt. All of the guys at school wanted to prove themselves by trying to get under her very pliable but tight skirt. Back then all it took for Quinn to take notice of Rachel was when someone else did and validated her existence by paying attention to her and telling her she was pretty. All of the guys, who ever actually told Rachel she was attractive in any way, was met with fierce slushies to the face when Quinn found out about it. Oddly enough during those incidents she would leave Rachel alone for whatever reason and Rachel, although she pitied them greatly, was grateful that the attention wasn't on her for the time being.

Quinn was having very different thoughts at the moment. In fact Quinn was fighting with herself to remember something different … trying to get rid of the memories that were tormenting her. She remembered the sounds of breathy moans, very vocal demands for 'more, harder, faster … please, don't stop,' and the icing on the cake, 'I'm cumming, I'm cumming Quinn!' As vocal as Rachel had been the entire time they were having sex, Quinn refused to call it making love, Rachel softly calling her name out with a breathy moan was what took her over the edge. As excellent as the diva was in bed what made Quinn cum was hearing that soft, breathy moan in the form of her name and Quinn hated it, she _despised_ that she came. It was driving her to the brink of insanity. The memory of cumming after hearing that voice was haunting her and turning her on at the same time and Quinn was at her wit's end with desire for the tiny diva.

She was remembering the feeling of sweaty bodies gliding against each other, the smell of arousal in the air, the sight of the beautiful body underneath her, and the taste of her skin. Quinn was trying to fight with her evident arousal but was having a hard time getting those images out of her head. There was no way that she could bring herself to do those things with someone sober and so she vowed then and there to never drink so much alcohol ever again. Quinn's struggle didn't go entirely unnoticed because she kept shaking her head to try and rid herself of such thoughts and images. Rachel, though lost in her own world, could hear the faint rustling of Quinn's hair every time she shook her head and eventually she took notice of it because not only was Quinn shaking her head she was now hitting herself on the forehead. She was also muttering under her breath so softly Rachel couldn't quite hear what it was she was muttering but it sounded suspiciously like 'nail man' to her, among other mutterings.

Eventually Quinn's head sank against her knees in front of her and then she kept hitting her forehead against that as well. Rachel, as wary as she was of Quinn, felt some measure of concern for Quinn because she was sure this wasn't typical behavior for the blonde and she reached out a tentative hand to her. Quinn's head snapped over to the side so quickly Rachel heard a crack and she felt herself flinch from hearing such a gruesome noise. Rachel absolutely detested the sound of bones cracking because it sickened her and made her fear that the person's bones were breaking.

She hesitated only for a moment before she spoke, "are you … are you all right Quinn?" She was tempted to say more but in all honesty Rachel wasn't sure if she should say anything else considering the fact that they weren't even remotely friends but were going to be wed soon. She wasn't sure what rights she was granted in this situation all things considering and so she just tried not to push her luck.

Quinn's intense hazel eyes had her trapped. Every time she looked into these very eyes she always found herself feeling lost in their gaze. This had happened to her every time they fought with each other or when she was singing a song and somehow managed to catch her eye for whatever reason. She always found herself lost in these very intense, beautiful eyes that always somehow found her and she was a prisoner lost in them every time it happened. They were like an anchor holding her captive for much longer than she was willing to admit more often than not. The stormy green melding with golden hues and warm brown always left her feeling a little bit breathless too, something she had always blamed on fear. She always found it difficult to break eye contact with her and it was always Quinn who managed to break it first every encounter they had.

Quinn found herself in a similar position as Rachel when it came to being held captive by her gaze. Rachel's eyes were like pools of dark chocolate melting her into a Quinn puddle. It was always these eyes that made her feel guilty and she always ended up looking away in shame and walking away from whatever situation they had been in. These eyes, that gaze, they always left her feeling like she was naked and vulnerable but she always chalked that up to her feeling insecure. Rachel was feminine in every way; petite sized, pretty, small hands, angelic smile, feminine, albeit questionable clothing, but most of all her body. Her body was just everything any young woman should be jealous of. She had curves in the right places, proportionate breasts, toned legs, a trim stomach, and arms the appropriate length for her body's height, unlike some people who had arms that looked too long for them. Rachel was, and is, the kind of young woman that was very attractive and just radiated her confidence and she made it impossible for people not to notice her presence. Quinn was more than aware of that fact and she knew that Rachel made her feel inferior and insecure. She remembered singing _I Feel Pretty/Unpretty_ with Rachel all too clearly their junior year. They were both envious of each other for completely different reasons but the envy was still there regardless of the reasons for it.

Finally managing to break their heated stare Quinn aimed her gaze lower only to have her gaze fall upon Rachel's crotch area of all places. Quinn felt her face burn with embarrassment as she quickly averted her gaze to a much safer region on Rachel's body: her knees. There was absolutely nothing wrong with looking at another person's knees right? Wrong because Rachel was sitting with her legs crossed and so looking at either knee put a certain area of Rachel's body in Quinn's peripheral vision. Quinn close her eyes, shut them so tightly and fiercely, it made Rachel think that Quinn was trying to hold back tears, causing even more concern for the diva's already worried being.

Rachel's warm hand came to rest on Quinn's shoulder in what she thought was comfort but only served to cause Quinn's body to spike up in warmth. Rachel could feel the heat radiating from Quinn's skin, her hand was close enough to Quinn's neck to feel the heat, and it made her wonder if Quinn was sick now. She inquired as much, "Are you feeling sick, feverish perhaps Quinn? You feel a bit warm to me Quinn." She had never seen Quinn so vulnerable before other than when they sang together their junior year. She had been so open in how insecure she really was about her looks, especially since she thought that her face was the only thing people liked about her. Quinn thought everything else about her had absolutely nothing that was even close to being called 'a redeeming quality' and Rachel was surprised with the fact that Quinn shared that. It had been the moment that Rachel understood that even Quinn, as pretty as she was, still had vulnerabilities like everyone else in the world. Quinn who was considered the 'All American Wholesome Christian Girl', the 'ultimate package' so to speak and the kind of girl every guy wanted to bring home to his parents. But Quinn didn't feel that way at all and Rachel understood that now, she could see that now and they bonded over that and were sort of friends by their senior year. Rachel was only very slightly bitter over the fact that Quinn was so ideal in high school but she never let that stop her from being kind to Quinn and reaching out to her even if the response was much less kind.

Quinn shook her head resolutely and fought the thoughts plaguing her mind and body with arousal. It was getting to be quite ridiculous, all of the feelings that seemed to be taking over her thoughts. She had never felt this way in her life before. Sure she knew that she was absolutely disgusted by men, she understood that perfectly in high school and had used it to her advantage by frustrating them all with her little praying act when they tried for more. It had made her the number one girl guys wanted to have sex with and it made her a constant at the top of the food chain at McKinley High. She was always on top because of her refusal to sleep with anyone; even in secret she wouldn't do anything. She never even masturbated once in her life because she was so deeply ashamed of her body and all of its flaws. It was a secret she had been willing to take to her grave with only less than a handful of people actually knowing about it but now … another person knew, to a certain extent, about her being … different. Not even Brittany or Santana knew about it because as much as she loved and trusted Brittany she knew that Brittany didn't like keeping secrets from Santana. As for Santana … she would want to have experimental sex with her in all kinds of different ways and Quinn definitely didn't want to do something like that. It would have just been too much for her to handle and so she kept her secret between her parents and sister and her manager, who she trusted implicitly because of an incident that happened early on in her fledgling career as an actress.

After a few more moments of just looking at each other, Quinn understood that Rachel was waiting for a response from her. Quinn didn't know what to say because she didn't really know how she was feeling right now, only that she was feelings things she shouldn't be feeling for Rachel right now. Arousal was something Quinn had only had to deal with so rarely in her life that she didn't really know what to do when those kinds of occasions actually occurred. Quinn unsure of what to say in response and so she just shook her head, momentarily breaking their intense gazes on each other, before looking at Rachel again. "I … don't know what to say … or what to do in this situation … honestly is there anything I can say?" Quinn was thoroughly stressed out by this situation because here they were, sitting in this room and inevitably going to have to say the words I do. "I'm … an actress … a celebrity … I'm a public figure and a role model to a lot of people and I find myself in this situation now." Quinn sighed and rested her forehead against her arms, looking more defeated than she had ever seen Quinn in all of the time she had known her.

"It … well, it could be a lot worse Quinn," Rachel said in an attempt to cheer her up, unsuccessfully. Quinn moved her head so that she was resting the right side of her face on top of her arms, which were resting against her knees, to face Rachel with her infamous eyebrow raise.

"And what … pray tell, Rachel, could possibly make this situation any worse exactly?" Quinn regretted asking immediately after hearing Rachel's subsequent response to her question.

"I could be pregnant with your baby," she said bluntly. At Quinn's reaction, her eyes clenching shut tightly and fiercely, Rachel felt herself soften and she apologized, "I'm sorry … I shouldn't have said that. I didn't mean that and I, I rescind that statement." Rachel said quickly, in an effort to appease Quinn. "I just … well, what I mean was that often times other celebrities end up having babies with their boyfriends/girlfriends and we … we were just sort of caught doing something. We're just under a lot of speculation right now and our managers are looking into it. I mean it's only what … close to two in the afternoon. There's plenty of time for this to blow over and just become a forgotten piece of gossip JBI fabricated." Rachel said his name in clear disgust and with undisguised irritation, surprising Quinn slightly.

"Just … please don't say anything like that ever again." Quinn acquiesced with a little huff. "Also … I don't even know if I'm capable of impregnating you anyways Rachel." Quinn's cheeks were flaming red and Rachel thought it was a rather adorable sight but quickly erased that thought from her mind. This was such a precarious situation and they were both unsure how to play their part in it despite the fact that they were both known for their remarkable acting skills.

The sounds of vibrating phones and alerting tones broke their thoughts and they knew that some of their friends had caught up on the recent article debacle they were facing. Quinn wanted to scream, maybe punch a few walls, and just let her anger loose at this point but she didn't want more of an inconvenience to occur from it. She did settle for banging her head against the bedside table, which Rachel was quick to attempt to prevent any more damage to the blonde's head by putting her hand on top of the bedside table before Quinn's forehead made another connection.

"We just have to brave this because we both started this awful mess Quinn. And we should at least wait until one of our managers call us to tell us what will be happening at the very least before we answer to our friends and … adoring fans." Rachel said smoothly, much more confidently than she was feeling at the moment for Quinn's sake.

Quinn nodded her head, still resting against Rachel's hand, while muttering under her breath. "Dear God, almighty King and Father … what in the world _would_ Jesus do in this situation?" And Quinn was sure that there would be no one answering that particular prayer because she did bring this unto herself after all.

"I'm with you on that one Quinn." Rachel whispered quietly, having heard Quinn's soft mutterings despite how silent it had been.

They were given a week to get their story straight between them before the interviews would begin and they kept arguing. Honestly there was a reason they never got along in high school. Was it because of the constant sabotaging of each other that got in the way? Not at all, why would anyone think that? Perhaps it was the fact that they had clashing personalities? Never would have dreamed that to be the reason. Or could it be because of the fact that they were constantly stealing their boyfriends from each other in high school? That couldn't be it? They had never done such a thing to each other … _ever_ during their high school careers. Okay so maybe they had been a bit petty and childish sometimes in their squabbles. They were _teenagers_ and that was exactly what _teenagers_ did! It was called the folly of youth after all and it was what they did as foolish teenagers with out of whack hormones and damn emotions! Who could actually truly fault them for doing those petty and foolish teenage things?

And this was a bit of how their argument went, back and forth like a tennis match.

"Why can't we at least say that we met again around three years ago at one of my shows? Really, what's wrong with that being our story of how we met again Quinn?" Rachel asked exasperatedly, diva attitude blatantly showing in the privacy of their hotel room. "It would be perfect because no one has to know that you were never there! It's not like it's impossible to miss you being in New York since it's not your 'territory' so to speak!" Rachel said with air quotes surrounding the word territory.

Quinn was fighting the urge to say something rude and insult Rachel like she had in high school but it was very difficult because she was being reminded of why she disliked her so much then. "Rachel! Do you not understand that your shows are _surrounded_ by the paparazzi around _every_ available _corner_ possible? It would have been impossible for me to sneak in and just so happen to … uh, I don't know, walk in and actually 'watch your show' unnoticed by them!" Quinn huffed out, every bit annoyed with the stubborn diva's argument and persistence in that scenario being how they met up again. "It would be _much_ more plausible for you to have been eating out somewhere with the cast and crew and then you spotted me eating at the same place under an alias and that's how they don't know we met up. We have to think about this _logically_ for goodness' sakes Rachel!" Quinn was sure the slight ache and pounding in her head was purely from talking to the diva who annoyed her so greatly in high school and even now in their present.

"But it's not _nearly_ as romantic, Quinn! Just think about how the media would portray it! It would be made out to be the most romantic proposal, marriage, and relationship of all times! And besides that, how else are we going to convince them that we were together in _secret_ for so long if not that we did small things that didn't attract attention to either of us? You coming to see my show is something that they can't say that was due specifically to me! Or things like we have late night phone conversations and skype sessions and things like that that couples in secret do! Those are the kind of things that couples do when they don't want anyone to know that they are together Quinn! It's called discreet dating, which is the back story we're going with here based off of what our managers agreed on!" Rachel said far too animatedly causing Quinn's eyes to furrow and her eyebrows to rise in the infamous Fabray Raise.

"The romantic aspect in how we met plays a part in the story?" Rachel nodded her head vehemently at Quinn's pause. "And why does every love story have to start out so romantic? Ours obviously is not that kind of love story because let's face it; we were _never_ actually friends in high school let alone now Rachel. I _tortured_ you and _humiliated_ you every chance I got. And you, you would hold your head up high and walk it off like it was _nothing_ every time it happened and went on with the rest of your day. How is that even going to translate into anything remotely believable if we're up against JBI and his gossip website?" Quinn let it sink into Rachel's mind for a moment before she continued softly. "He's going to call us out on our bullshit and then what? We have to face the music of embarrassment and shame because we messed up so early on in all of this mess." Quinn took a deep and steadying breath, "we want to make sure that this is a success because otherwise it will be the end of our careers as we know it and we don't want that do we?" Rachel huffed out a breath but nodded her head in agreement albeit very reluctantly for sure.

"I still want there to be some sort of romance in the story," Rachel bit out stubbornly causing Quinn to rub at her face in frustration with both of her hands.

"There _will_ be romance Rachel … just bear with me here. Romance doesn't always start right from the very beginning like it does in the plays, or movies, or TV Shows we're working on does." Rachel had never seen this side of Quinn before, so passionate in everything she was saying. "Sometimes what happens in our different Medias is the characters start of disliking each other, hating each other even, with every fiber of their beings until they start to really _see_ each other. Think about how it was for us in high school. You were the high strung diva who knew what she wanted and she wasn't afraid of doing whatever it took to reach her dreams. You even considered getting a nose job once and that was a little crazy I'll have to admit but you got through it and here you are: the next Barbra Streisand of Broadway!"

There was silence between them for a moment as Rachel took it all in, absorbed the information and really tasted the words being offered to her. "And then there was you Quinn, the most popular girl in school and yet the loneliest and most insecure person in the sea of students. As beautiful as you were, you were still the most insecure person in the sea of students who wanted to be you, to have what you had: power, beauty, intellect, and most of all control. You seemed to have it all and yet you felt like you had nothing. You were the envy of most of the student body because your parents are wealthy, you get good grades, you had the perfect boyfriend on your arm, and you demanded respect. You appeared to have everything everyone wanted and yet … you felt lonelier at the top than you were willing to admit despite the fact that you were at the top with Brittany and Santana. Santana was a tricky second in command because she could easily turn on you in any second if the occasion arose like you once did to her when she was the top cheerio."

Quinn looked away from Rachel and looked to the floor instead. They were both standing in the middle of the living room area of the hotel. She wasn't even sure when it was they had first stood up from where they had been before when they first started discussing the details of how they met again and fell in love with each other. It was completely and utterly frustrating them both to no end because they already understood that they were two completely different individuals, opposites. They had very different personalities and grew up in very different backgrounds. Rachel grew up with loving, warm, and caring homosexual parents while Quinn grew up with cold, distant, and pretentious heterosexual parents who often characterized the Berry men as devils in disguise. They would tell her to pity Rachel for not knowing any better than to stay with the men who would condemn her to hell when she died. Quinn didn't know what to believe but when she first met Rachel she remembered feeling something stirring within her that she had never felt before. The moment Rachel opened her mouth she felt annoyance like she had never felt before because of her confusion and after that she had sought to torture her endlessly.

Between high school and now Quinn had matured and truly befriended Brittany and Santana. They were her truest friends now despite what Quinn had done to kick Santana off of the top of the pyramid in a moment of weakness during their junior year. To this day she never told anyone why Sue kicked her off of the top of the pyramid and she never would. It was a secret she would never tell anyone in all of McKinley High or anyone else in the world for that matter.

"We're _never_ going to come up with a story that we both agree with at this rate!" Rachel yelled in frustration. Quinn sighed at the diva's defeated attitude, which was quite rare to see considering how relentless Rachel was about almost everything else. "We're so very different from each other and we never truly got along with each other in high school and I really don't see that changing soon despite our impending wedding with each other." Rachel bit out in frustration. This irritated Quinn to no end because Quinn knew Rachel better than Rachel was giving her credit for.

"What happened to the Rachel who never stopped at anything to reach her dreams of Broadway? Where did that woman go?" Quinn asked coldly, her voice as warm as an iceberg bitch slapping someone in the form of a slushie. "Did she bail on me because things got a little tough? I thought I was talking to Rachel Barbra Berry … not her cowardly doppelganger who gives up at the sight of the slightest trouble." Quinn goaded with a glint in her eyes as she saw indignation and determination gleaming in Rachel's eyes in response to her words. "I guess she must have gone to bed and left me to do all of the work because she's not the stubborn girl I remember from our teenage years." Quinn continued and that was the last straw because Rachel fought back with anger shining in her eyes but most of all determination.

"I never left and you know what, Quinn?" Quinn merely gave her a haughty look in response, "I have never liked your superior attitude but right now it's even more irritating than it normally is. I have the perfect idea and you're going to agree with it whether you like it or not!" Rachel practically shouted into the silent room, Quinn's lips only quirked up slightly in triumph. She definitely knew how to motivate Rachel after what happened during Regional's their junior year. She put it into Rachel's mind that she couldn't ever get Finn back if she couldn't even write a song because she'd never really felt hardships in her life and the end result was the epic song: _Get It Right_. It had won them Regional's and even though Quinn hadn't been expecting it to happen she never regretted egging Rachel on into doing her best. She had taken note of the victory and filed the information away for use later if necessary.

This push and pull between them was what made them work so well together despite the fact that they didn't get along well with each other. They pushed each other to be the very best they could be even when their relationship was at its lowest. They complimented each other's differences in many ways even when they didn't necessarily like each other during those times. Their greatest moments with each other often either happened in the bathrooms or in the auditorium, empty but for them. It was rather ironic that they never truly considered each other friends despite all of these factors and circumstances that seemed to push them together.

"Is that so Rachel?" Quinn asked with a haughty expression on her face and a smirk on her full lips, goading Rachel even further. Steam could practically be seen coming out of Rachel's ears at this point.

"Yes, now stop looking at me with that condescending look and listen to what I have to say!" Rachel demanded, managing to somehow stomp her foot hard enough that a thud could be heard despite the floor being carpeted. It was, Quinn was sure, a feat only Rachel Barbra Berry, diva of Broadway, was capable of for sure. Quinn merely raised her eyebrow but said nothing in response, her way of signaling for Rachel to go on with what she had to say. "We are going to tell part of the truth, which would be that we never really interacted positively with each other. We'll leave out the gory details about torture, boyfriend stealing, sabotage, and such things but instead talk about how we constantly seemed to bring out the best in each other after every heavy encounter. We never truly _saw_ each other until after we had outgrown our immaturity as teenagers and met up again. Now here is where we can truly collaborate with each other so every detail is right Quinn. Was there a time when you were in New York City for any reason?" Rachel asked a determined fire now lit in her eyes.

Quinn thought back where she was in the last three years and she did recall coming to New York when she was still a relative unknown, before her first breakthrough role. She had in fact gone to see one of Rachel's shows but she didn't want the brunette knowing about that little detail. And so she told a half truth to compromise so Rachel didn't know about a certain detail of Quinn's quiet trip to New York three years ago. Quinn reflected, very briefly, the feeling of freedom she had back then when not very many people knew her because she was still finding her way in the world of acting. She had yet to become somebody that people recognized and would then proceed to crowed because of her fame and popularity. Those days … she missed those days a bit because those days were when she still had a shield: anonymity.

"There was a time, three years ago, when I was still searching for roles rather than being offered auditions for iconic roles. I was still working hard to get my name out into the world of acting and I did happen to visit New York City once. I wasn't recognized in New York City because my popularity had yet to become widespread. You can say that you spotted me in the crowed surrounding you asking for autographs and you gave me your phone number discreetly so we could catch up because it had been so long. We can go so many places from there and no one would be any the wiser because it is plausible that I was missed in this crowed then. I highly doubt anybody would be able to contradict our statement because pictures aren't allowed to be taken by fans waiting for a glimpse of you and perhaps even an autograph." Quinn was still the smooth liar she had been in high school only this time around this was a lie that she was telling for reasons she did not even know herself. She wasn't sure where it came from but she knew that at the very least she wasn't trying to hurt Rachel by lying to her.

Rachel's eyes lit up at hearing the perfect opening to the story of how they met again and finally fell in love with each other. "Yes! And let's just say that when we first met each other again we didn't know what to say to each other when we met up privately to eat dinner and catch up. At first we didn't say anything and then all of a sudden we were both speaking too much! We remember all of the things that happened in high school and how different we were then and see that we're still very different people now! We didn't give up though because we met up again to try to make sense of our past together with cooler, calmer heads this second dinner and became friends. We didn't want anyone from the Glee Club hearing about any of these things through the grape vine and so we kept it a secret until one day we have a major blow out! We become so angry with each other because of our mounting frustration with not knowing why we started feeling differently around each other! There's always some kind of unspoken tension between us and we refuse to address the way we look at each other in person or over skype, or when we hear the affection in each other's voices we always think of it as platonic love between friends, never believing it to be true love for each other!" Rachel would have kept going if not for the knocking she heard on the door of the hotel room and the knocking was quite literally very obnoxious and confident. Rachel's sixth sense tingled in warning of it being someone she was sure she did not want to see on the other side of the door.

Quinn looked worried as well as the knocking resumed once again when neither made any move to open the door within two minutes. "I'll … I'll go see who it is if you want me to Rachel." Quinn said, wonder and curiosity in her tone.

Rachel shook her head. "I'm quite sure that the hotel room is under my name, well pseudonym, so I should be the one to answer. I … I think it's someone who knows us so … I'd rather make sure they don't catch the both of us before we can get our stories straight … no pun intended." Rachel said nervously before moving out of the middle of the living room where she had finally settled down into. "Maybe you should get out of sight Quinn … just in case?" Rachel whispered into the air behind her, making sure Quinn heard her and moved before she continued on her trek to the door.

Rachel took a deep breath and let it out slowly just as a series of impatient knocks started up again and she heard muttering on the other side of the door. The voice was the dreaded familiar she had wanted to avoid for at least a few weeks, months perhaps if she was lucky. Rachel slowly unlatched the door's first lock, and then the door's second lock, and finally the doorknob itself before she slowly opened the door a tiny crack. Rachel lamented that she was too short to look through the peephole properly even when she stood on her tiptoes.

"Well, well, well … look who decided to finally open the door?" Rachel knew that her feeling of uneasiness and dread had been correct when she beheld the sight before her.

"FML," Rachel muttered softly but was overheard anyways if the other person's smirk was any indication of such a fact.

Oh, the sound of wedding bells could be heard in the distance. The sound of gleeful laughter could be heard and joyous voices talking from every direction on such an auspicious day. Many events took place to set in motion the union of two _such_ wonderful people who were absolutely meant for each other in the eyes of the public. Since the fateful announcement of their engagement to each other, just about seven weeks prior to this day, there had been much gossip in the rumor mill about them. Many things seemed to have sprouted from a single article written early on Christmas morning and the consensus was that it all fit, it all made sense to the general public now! The reason these two high profile, gorgeous, classy, and successful women never had any gossip about potential romances was all due to them staying true and faithful to each other in secret! There was no reason to doubt the many interviews that had since been released about the couple's outrageous secret dating. These two women were great at keeping secrets and no one had even seen it coming. Not even them, but that was absolutely something they could not admit to under any circumstances. And so here they were wedded, with absolutely no idea what to do and no parachute in sight to save them. What could possibly go wrong with this absolutely perfect, match made in heaven, loves made by the red string of fated love, coupling? Nothing of course! Everything would be perfectly fine! Right? Well … _maybe_ something could go wrong … nothing major though for sure! Right?

Okay so I know the people who clicked on this story last month were probably wondering if I was ever going to update and here it is! I apologize for not being able to post this before the month was up but I was busy updating my other stories, and in one case finishing one, that I didn't get to this one until now. I got a new job and Happy New Year to everyone! Chúc mừng năm mới! 明けましておめでとうございます!

Also so everyone is aware the only reason this one was able to go up relatively quickly compared to some updates is because of a terrible situation with my mother. My mother, to keep this short and sweet, attempted to choke me like she did when I was 17 because I didn't want to listen to her voice drone on like her self-righteous self wanted me to as her obedient thing. I swear that's what she thinks I am. Also for those of you who have read Finding You and Falling the chapters about Quinn being abused by her father are mostly based off of my own experience, other than me changing a few things up because I didn't want it to be entirely too personal. Sorry this is such a long note compared to other notes I usually leave. My mother ended up taking the router away for five days before finally bringing it back home so the internet was up again. Sorry about this being so long again and I hope to receive some reviews because that last chapter had the most reviews I've ever had for a first chapter of my story by a long shot! Also sorry to say a little over 300 hundred words are part of this note here!

姫宮光る


	3. Fairytales

Chapter 3

Fairytales

Quinn and Rachel appeared very much in love and incapable of not touching each other in some small way and the audience and talk show host that they were currently speaking to just lapped it up. They were currently sitting on a couch next to each other giving each other sly sideways glances while holding each other's hands with their fingers laced oh so lovingly between them. They were the image of a picture perfect couple completely and utterly in love with each other. They looked as if they completely adored each other and they were being asked a multitude of questions about their relationship, how they met, who asked who out, etc., and the audience loved it! They were cooing and awing over the couple and the absolute adorable factor that kept presenting itself in the form of sweet and loving responses to each other. During each and every question asked they would look at each other as they answered before looking back at the host, almost as if they had forgotten that they were being interviewed and that they weren't just speaking to each other. This had the audience falling in love with this young couple, freshly out of the proverbial closet, and easily convincing them that this was certainly America's New Sweetheart being born from this loving couple. This was the illusion of the fairytale romance that they had painted and established just a week and a half prior to this interview, one of many to come, and it was working wholeheartedly. Who didn't love romance and fairytale story endings in real life like this after all? It was the stuff of legend, an epic romance that was going to be told as a story over and over again in different ways throughout the next decade at least.

The only reason that Quinn and Rachel managed to get to the point where they could actually act this in love in front of an audience had occurred that fateful Christmas day. It had taken them what felt like weeks considering how long every hour seemed to last between their arguing with each other over the best approach and then the rest of the Gleeks had to show up and play story time with them. It was one nightmare having all of the other Gleeks crammed into one room with them as they all assessed the situation individually and Santana basically acted as their interrogator. She was interrogating them like a true Spaniard during the Inquisition when they all first barged into the room like they owned the damn place … well Santana did anyways in the way only Santana would. She was the one who started the chain of events that resulted in the entire former Glee Club scheming for the blonde and brunette without their permission in the least. It was all like a dream … or nightmare depending on the person's perspective over the entire situation. Santana had always been known as a catalyst … an initiator … the person who basically started any and almost all of the chains of events involving this group in some way. She always took charge of everything that ever happened in terms of making things happen and making damn sure that they went off without a hitch. This was what she was doing now.

It all started on that fateful Christmas day sometime in the early evening …

Santana walked through the door, barely open enough to actually allow her to squeeze passed, and strutted into the living room that had once been occupied by another recipient currently hiding.

"Of course you would get the nicest room available because this ain't too shabby at all." Santana turned around to face the door again and raised her eyebrow, "aren't you going to invite everybody else in?" Santana asked as if she, herself, had actually gotten an invitation to come in through the door into the hotel suite.

Rachel snapped out of her shock and put her hands on her hips and squeaked out with indignation, "and just invite you into my hotel room? I don't remember extending an invitation for you to come inside …" Rachel glanced over her shoulder, "although Kurt, Mercedes, Tina, Blaine, Brittany, Mike, Matt and Sam are certainly welcome." Rachel said, intentionally leaving Artie, Finn, and Puck off of the list as well as the Latina already sitting on one of the couches like she owned it, a slight air of authority in her tone.

"Hey, what about me my Jewish Princess?" Puck said indignantly, "I thought we were cool, babe?" causing Rachel to roll her eyes at him while he couldn't see the action.

"Yeah, what about me Rach? Are you just jealous because I had my girlfriend with me at the party?" Finn asked with a smug little smile on his face that Rachel actually wanted to slap off of his face. Things had ended in complete and utter failure for them by the time senior year was halfway over and despite the fact that he had chased after her almost relentlessly for a second chance, or really a third or fourth, and she had said no each and every time. She could tell that he was still not entirely over her but she was completely over him. They had crashed and burned after their first break up but neither one of them were actually entirely ready to admit that they really were truly over at that point. It was like admitting defeat after trying something for the first time. Everyone else in the club had been entirely too relieved when Rachel repeatedly so no to any and all of Finn's attempts after they broke up for the final time right before Christmas break started.

"So … is there any reason you didn't mention me Rachel?" Artie asked hesitantly, confusion clearly showing on his face.

Rachel looked a little startled when she looked over mostly because she hadn't seen him with the other Gleeks crowded around her doorway and completely barring him from view. He would have been a little upset as well if he was 100% sure she had seen him but considering everyone had pretty much blocked him from view he wasn't completely upset over it. Rachel looked over and gave Artie a sheepish smile, "I'm so sorry Artie. I regretfully did not see you with everyone else blocking you from view. As for you Puck … you're always a horn dog and you being in the same room as Sam would just make pretty much everyone uncomfortable. Sam," she started off gently, "you're not a horn dog like Puck but once he gets his hands on you it's impossible to get either one of you apart from the other and we all know where that leads to." Sam looked away with a blush while Puck just grinned proudly and waggled his eyebrows at her playfully while she scowled in return, not quite in as playful a mood considering her circumstances. She then turned to Finn with an even more forceful and fiercer glare than the one she directed at Puck and Santana had to give the woman props because she was mildly impressed.

"Hey, the Puckasaurus here is always in the mood okay? Ain't nothing wrong with having sex … and you probably know all about that don't you Rachel?" He added with a mischievous gleam in his eye and look on his face. He even added a hip thrusting motion when he said 'sex' for good measure. Rachel felt a vein pop in her neck, ready to tell him off, when of course Brittany managed to diffuse the tension slightly with one of her oddball comments.

"Rachel! Are you a unicorn like me … or a gay shark like San now?" Brittany asked as she scooped Rachel up into a hug that was probably unnecessary like how a prince, or hero, scooped up the woman of his dreams into his arms and gave her a disgusting smooch during the grand hug.

Rachel was a bit stunned by not just the hug but also by the question, "unicorn … gay shark?" Rachel would have said more but the look Santana was giving her made her give pause, "um … I … I don't know Brittany? I think I'll have to research those terms for a clear definition in order to ascertain a proper answer and response to your question." Rachel said, completely uncertain with how she was supposed to answer a strange question like that without saying something that would upset Brittany which in turn would be her demise for sure. Santana would most likely quite literally tear her head off or destroy her in some other creative way without there being any witnesses around and manage to go her whole life scot free of any murder charges. Rachel was simply sure that this was exactly what would happen if she were ever to hurt Brittany's feelings or upset her in some way, in any way whatsoever really, so she was wary of how she worded things. The Latina was most well known for her fiery temper after all and most of the Gleeks, even after all of this time, still had an acute fear of her and the supposed razors in her hair. No one ever really wanted to test out the rumor of her keeping razors in her hair for any reason and so it continued to remain a mystery no one wanted to know the answer to under any circumstances.

Brittany was about to say something else in response to Rachel but she was cut off by Santana's voice speaking loudly just to cover up whatever Brittany might be tempted to reveal. Santana had already known that Quinn felt something for Rachel for years, even as early as their late elementary school days. It was in the early days then that shaped the relationship they had in high school. Quinn had told Santana that she really wanted to talk to Rachel but she was too nervous to do so because her daddy had told her that people like Rachel weren't allowed to have friends. She had only told her father she wanted to be friends with her and he slapped her cheek for it. That was how Russell Fabray dealt with all of the problems he didn't want to deal with when it came to Quinn. He had never done a thing like that to Franny, Quinn's older sister, because she was daddy's little girl and Quinn was an abomination that only her mother seemed to love between the parental units.

Franny often tried to help Quinn with her issues and especially helped when it came to dealing with their father. As much as Quinn's mother showed love to her she never stood up for Quinn when their father said something or did something to Quinn. He had actually taken Quinn outside the town of Lima during the summer before her freshman year and had her attend a Catholic Camp training program to 'fix' homosexual children all because Quinn had told him she had a crush on somebody female. Santana never forgot that summer without her best friend because they had all promised, as the unholy trinity, to train together for the upcoming year to become the best badass Cheerios Sue Sylvester had ever seen. At first Santana had been angry with her best friend because she didn't see her the first week at all and she went to the Fabray residence to find out what was going on because Quinn wasn't answering her cell phone either. Santana wouldn't admit it but she was actually worried about Quinn at that point because although the blonde wasn't known for being a big texter she still usually texted replies no matter how short. And so with great determination to find out what happened she rang the doorbell to the Fabray mansion only to have Franny open the door.

With the infamous eyebrow raise that the Fabray women were so well known for Franny had answered the door and asked her what had taken her so long to come and ask about Quinn. Santana knew that she didn't need to deny that she was looking for Quinn, it was obviously the only reason she _would_ be there, but she had flushed a little at the question. When Franny looked into the house behind her shoulder Santana became very suspicious and Franny even went as far as to actually step out of the house. It was at that pivotal moment that Santana knew that something was wrong, that something was indeed _very_ wrong, and that that was the only reason Franny was being so cautious about having anyone in the house overhear her. So many scenarios were going through Santana's head, the most prominent being that Russell had potentially beaten Quinn or even possibly killed her, and she started to feel sick with worry. Franny had taken one look at Santana and ensured that Quinn was not dying nor was she being physically harmed in any way whatsoever and Santana felt a wave of relief wash through her body. Franny did burst that bubble and make it become very short lived by stating that Quinn was probably being tortured mentally and psychologically because she was sent to a Catholic Camp to 'fix' her for desiring girls.

Santana for the life of her had never felt that same feeling of having the air stolen from her lungs before in her life. It was as if someone had punched her in the stomach and made sure to dig their knuckles into her stomach after the blow just for good measure. She couldn't believe that Quinn's parents would do something like that to her and that incident alone caused a fear in Santana that she could not quite understand but it changed the way Santana was in high school. In middle school she had only ever done mean things to other people when they insulted Brittany or Quinn, Brittany especially. She had once whacked a boy on the head with her lunch tray because he had called Brittany stupid. It was because she found out about this particular incident that Santana had been absolutely cut throat in high school and didn't take shit from anybody. She became the face that many in the school feared crossing paths with because of her fierce image and rumors of her keeping razors in her hair, hidden so well no one knew where they could be hiding. Something else that also helped to perpetuate the rumor was the fact that Brittany S. Pierce often had little nicks and cuts all over her fingers that very well could be from the fact that she often touched Santana's hair. No one could really think of any other explanation for such a thing and so almost every in William McKinley High School avoided the Latina's wrath at all costs.

There was a reason Santana had only push Quinn into a locker in retaliation to losing her permission: she wanted everyone in the school to know that no one was allowed to fuck with her. Quinn had been expecting the retaliation but she was hurt and so she pushed back, just as angry as Santana. That was the biggest fight they had ever had and it never happened again. High school had changed them both for the worst and now that they were no longer hormone ridden teenagers they were much more mature over everything that happened to them in their lives. They forgave each other for the only incident of backstabbing either one had ever experienced in their friendship. They were back to being the Unholy Trinity again the very next day, as if the day before hadn't happened. It just caused the student body to fear them doubly so as a result.

"We all read the articles and we saw the pictures, now tell us … where is the blonde in question in this little equation here?" Santana asked, ignoring the pout Finn had on his face because he had been ignored. Finn just wanted Rachel back because she was cool and well known now so he didn't have to worry about people making fun of him for liking her and being with her now.

Rachel flushed that telling blush and before Rachel even had a chance to respond Santana pushed passed Rachel's squeaking form. Rachel made a move to follow and that made half of the Gleeks walk in, as if that was their cue to walk into the hotel suite. Puck, Kurt, Mercedes, Finn, and Matt walked into the room but Puck took it a step further and flopped onto a plush loveseat and spread his legs out the length of the loveseat like it was his hotel and not just his hotel room.

"Well … she did technically invite most of us in … so I guess it should be okay," Tina said softly as she stepped into the hotel room next to Kurt and Mercedes. Mike followed her silently.

Kurt, never having been much of a fan of his stepbrother after the initial crush wore off, made a comment about his presence in the room. "I don't believe she invited you into the room, _Finn_," and his tone of voice held much disdain. Kurt had been horrified with how Finn came out for Santana back in their senior year in high school and even less impressed with him after he had left Rachel and made no contact with her for four months. It was even worse after he once visited her in the apartment she shared with him during college and he just left in the morning without a word even though she had started dating a sophomore. There was always something when it came to Finn and Kurt just could not stand to be around the man-child of a giant and he showed it with snide little comments here and there. He was nowhere near Santana's level of animosity toward Finn but he was still obviously not a fan of Finn's or ever on his side when things came down.

"Well … so what? She can kick me out … if she even _wants_ to do that anyways." He had that smug smirk that had Rachel boiling earlier. Mercedes easily gave him a bitch slap upside the head for the way he was speaking about Rachel because in their last year of high school Rachel and Mercedes had really bonded. They kept in touch with each other during college but not nearly to the extent with which Rachel and Kurt had, obviously since she had not lived with them. "Ow! What the hell was that for?" Finn asked as he rubbed the back of his head while looking at Mercedes warily.

"Finn … I know that we were never really friends but, boy, you best not be disrespecting my home girl Rachel. When Quinn comes into the picture I know you better not say any thang to my girl Quinn because she's been through a lot of shit in her life and she does not need you adding to that. I know you remember her getting kicked out of her house because her dad saw you pushing her up against the door of their house the one night even though she told you no!" Mercedes, and the rest of the club, never forgot how irrational and downright _cruel_ Russell Fabray could be. "She was only 16 years old and he thought you were trying to have sex with her or something and look where she ended up! On the freakin' streets in the middle of the night all thanks to your thoughtless and selfish actions Hudson." Finn opened his mouth to retort and attempt to defend himself … again, but Mercedes interrupted him with a fist waving in his face threateningly. "Now I know you're not about to try and _defend_ yourself and so I'm _sure_ I won't have to punch you in the face." Finn understood that this was an argument he was going to lose, which he always did, and so he just moved to lean against a wall and scowl at Mercedes and she raised her eyebrow at him, much like Quinn but with more divatude rather than intimidation.

Santana then burst into the room with Quinn in tow and Rachel following behind with a scowl on her face. "You really, _really_ didn't have to drag me out here by my arm you know San. I mean … seriously it's like you don't trust me to come out on my own and think I'll just hide from everyone until they leave or something." Quinn muttered the last part and Santana, for her part, looked highly amused and she even chuckled softly.

"That's because you _would_, Q," Santana whispered softly against the shell of Quinn's ear. Rachel's scowl deepened very slightly from the sight.

Brittany bounded over to them immediately and asked, "What are we whispering about?" in a whisper so loud every one of the occupants of the room heard her. Quinn face palmed and Santana shook her head in amusement at Brittany's antics and failure to whisper properly.

"Nothing B, don't worry about it." Santana had that soft look on her face and it momentarily cheered Quinn up about her situation. Quinn smiled softly at the sight of her endearing best friend and her other fiercely protective friend and she knew then that they had come to help. The smile on Quinn's face made the scowl on Rachel's face lighten a bit but it came back tenfold when a certain someone made their presence known.

"So … Rachel … you're not, like, gay now are you? Because that would be impossible since, you know, you dated me and all." Finn said in the most annoying and unintelligent way possible. This was quite possibly the stupidest thing she had ever heard Finn say before, and pretty much everyone in the room for that matter had never heard a more ignorant statement.

Kurt was the first to respond with a biting comment to his stepbrother's idiocy. "Finn … you've never heard the term gay beard before have you? It's not impossible to be gay but date someone of the opposite gender. It is actually very plausible considering only two years ago another six states declared that same-sex marriage is allowed. America is still debating this issue as if it should be an issue even if in recent years things have actually gotten better for people who are homosexual … America still has a long way to go. A lot of people are still afraid of admitting that they aren't heterosexual and some are not even aware for various other reasons and so why is it so impossible for Rachel to not know that she was gay until she met Quinn?" Kurt asked, very heated and passionate about the subject matter. Kurt, nor anyone else in the room, really knew if Rachel was gay or not, not even Rachel herself, but this was something that they all believed to be true.

Puck was bisexual, pansexual arguably even, and so was Brittany. Sam considered himself to be bisexual but with a strong leaning toward men. Kurt, Blaine, and Santana were gay and Quinn was still very much in the closet about her sexuality because of what had happened to her years ago at that camp for 'fixing' her sinful ways. Mike, Tina, Mercedes, Artie, and Matt were all straight but not a single one of them would stand up to defend Finn in this moment. What Finn said had been an insult to Puck, Brittany, Sam, Kurt, Blaine, Santana, Quinn, and Rachel directly and indirectly to the latter five because it made it seem like all heterosexual people thought that way.

"Man … Finn, can you just back up a step?" Mike asked seeing that Finn had pushed himself off of the wall and was glaring at Kurt. "What you said was really wrong and if you can't be supportive of Quinn and Rachel's relationship then you need to leave. Since we first came here you've been nothing but a douche and anything but pleasant to be around. You are pretty much demeaning people who aren't heterosexual and that's bordering on being homophobic. I would've thought that you learned your lesson back during our senior year when you came out for Santana before she was ready to do that on her own." Finn growled and made a moved to knock some furniture over but was pushed back forcefully by Sam.

"What the fuck man?! If you break any of the furniture in this room then they," he pointed over at the area where Quinn and Rachel were standing, "have to pay for it. They're liable for any and all damage done to this room and what are you? Five years old?" Sam asked heatedly. "You can't do this shit anymore because we're not in high school, hell we're not in elementary school, and that kind of attitude doesn't fly anymore. You're supposed to be an adult now so if you break something your parents aren't going to pay to fix your problems anymore. You have to pay for it if you break." Finn's face grew redder and redder with every word that left Sam's mouth until he punched Sam right in the face and kneed him in the stomach before Mike reacted and smashed Finn into the wall he was previously leaning on, pinning him against the wall.

Puck was in Finn's face and Matt was on his other side, holding onto him just in case he lost his cool.

"What the hell's your problem Sam? And get the fuck off of me Mike! What are you, ga—" Finn didn't get to finish his sentence because surprisingly enough Mercedes punched Finn and Rachel slapped him across the face so hard that the sound of flesh meeting flesh was loud enough to drown out the sound of Finn's surprised gasp, as well as pretty much everyone else in the room.

Whereas Santana had previously been mildly impressed this definitely impressed her even more.

"Get out right now." Her voice was fiercely calm and that just made her all the more intimidating to those present in the room. No one had ever heard the quiet anger from the small diva before. She was always obnoxiously loud when she was displeased by something and so this left them all shivering in acute fear of what the tiny diva was capable of.

"B-but …" Finn stopped dead in the middle of his sentence at the look on the Broadway Diva's face.

"Out … _now_," she hissed in that deceptively quiet and calm voice yet again and shivers erupted on most everyone occupying the room because of how deadly she sounded. This diva had put up with a lot worse in her life and so this must have been something that upset her even more than anything that had ever happened to her.

Without another word Finn left the room, glancing back only once. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when the door was shut softly and his footsteps could no longer be heard in the thundering silence of the hotel suite.

"That was intense. I've got to give you some props Berry because that was freaking awesome and I didn't know you had it in you to be so ruthless and fierce." Santana said, breaking the tension in the room immediately with her comment.

"Damn right! You go girl! Get your diva on, Rachel." Mercedes added for good measure.

"You were really cool Rachel." Tina said with a smile.

"My Jewish Princess … I always knew you were a badass at heart! Deny it all you want but I always knew you had that badass streak underneath all of the argyle and skirts you wore!" Puck said, somehow managing to make it slightly sexual despite the fact that the word 'argyle' was part of the sentence.

Puck was patting her on the back proudly and Santana was giving her a smug smirk. Quinn, curiously enough, had an unreadable look on her face but Rachel could see the barest curve to the corner of her lips and for whatever reason that was what made Rachel beam at everyone praising her. It was like Quinn's approval, and her approval alone, was what Rachel had been looking for all along.

"Finn was just asking for that kind of response and he had it a long time coming for sure! God he can be so infuriating and I … I can_not_ believe that he is my stepbrother most days because of comments and remarks like that. My dad has had to yell at him at least a hundred times in the last year alone for using the word faggot and gay inappropriately around me." Kurt huffed out with obvious frustration, annoyance, and possibly a small measure of dislike in his tone. Blaine came up to Kurt and wrapped his arms around his waist from behind and held him securely in his arms, effectively calming him down from his irritation.

"It's okay baby. He's gone now and you don't need to give him another second of your precious time by thinking about his ignorant comments." Blaine kissed his cheek softly and Kurt gave a huff before he responded.

"You're right … like you always are Blaine." And the way Kurt said it made it sound like something he didn't like to admit to … or at least he did so in a joking and resigned manner.

The rest of this meeting went off without much more problems occurring other than what everyone's ideas were to contribute to the story Quinn and Rachel would have to tell. Everyone wanted to add to the story, to have their own piece of the puzzle that fit together like a glove to the rest of the puzzle that was the love story between Quinn and Rachel. There was no doubt in everyone's mind that Quinn had been repressing her feelings for Rachel since high school because of all of the times they just seemed to pass each other by. If a love story was going to be told, it was going to be told right damn it! That was the general consensus of the club when they all piled into their cars and drove to the infamous hotel where 'it' happened. This was going to be the start of a beautiful romance for sure.

"So … I've heard from some sources that the both of you used to be in the Glee Club at your high school together and that you even won the National Competition during your senior year!" He was impossibly excited and they could tell that from where they were sitting. "Is there any truth to this little tidbit of information?" Their host asked them with a twinkle in his eyes just begging them to say yes so he could ask a follow up question that they could tell he was bursting from the seams to ask.

Quinn and Rachel both nodded and Rachel even spoke up further, "yes and Quinn was a very reluctant participant at first but she grew to love the freedom she felt in that choir room." Quinn gave her a playful glare from beside her and the host laughed, as well as the audience, and they were all charmed by the sight. This couple was entirely too adorable and just so very perfect … they were just like the romances that everyone had encountered as a child. They were truly like true Fairytales about finding love but sometimes never realizing that it was there until much later on.

"This is just delightful! My next question is … well rather it is a request if the answer is yes to the question," he said with a gleam in his eyes. Quinn and Rachel looked at each other and seemed to communicate with their eyes alone, for just a moment, before turning back to their host, giving him their full attention. "Do you have songs for each other … as in do you both have a song you always think of when thinking of each other? And if so, I'm sure there is a yes to this, what song is it and might we, the audience, have a chance to hear it because we would all love to hear Broadway's best, Miss Rachel Barbra Berry, sing for us if possible and for you as well Miss Quinn Lucy Fabray! We'd just _love_ to hear that soft, whispery voice of yours sing a song for us since we've never heard your voice yet. It would be an absolute delight if you were both to accept such a request from this Broadway fan right here!" He said enthusiastically, excitement pouring off of him in waves.

Quinn and Rachel were actually glad that he was their first host because he had been the perfect balance of curious but respectable when it came to the questions he asked. They looked at each other again before breaking eye contact to look at their host. "Well I've personally never been able to refuse a request to perform because I do love the stage and performing for an audience!" Rachel beamed, "but this one here," she looked over at Quinn and held up their intertwined hands, "has always been shy about her voice no matter what anyone says! I mean I tell her she has a lovely voice all of the time … she's just occasionally sharp." Rachel said, just as she once said to her in the past.

Quinn scowled at Rachel in response to that little tidbit Rachel added at the end. "Well excuse me for not having vocal lessons from the moment I was able to speak like you." Quinn retorted, slightly offended from hearing that comment again. Quinn's expression become appropriately startled when Rachel leaned up in her seat to kiss her cheek affectionately before smirking at how wide Quinn's eyes had become in their surprise. Quinn's cheeks even sported a slightly pink hue to them as well to top it all off. She then proceeded to turn back to the host, who looked far too amused by the situation in Quinn's opinion, and spoke with a smug voice.

"I love doing that to her!" Rachel's eyebrows waggled a little and the audience chuckled a bit because really this Broadway Diva was just born to be an entertainer. Her radiant presence and abundant talent shone every time she sang on that stage they all loved watching her dominate ranging from just a single quirk of her facial features to her entire body language. She was just brilliant and she was one of the brightest stars to come on the stage in the last few years.

As for Quinn, her face flushed a slighter brighter tint of pink at her comment and she looked over to the tiny diva who was a powerhouse. It was like Santana always said, 'for a tiny little thing you sure can be loud,' and Quinn wholeheartedly agreed with the statement. "Of course you do, superstar. You just love to embarrass me any chance you get and you know it!" The audience smiled at the term of endearment that slipped from Quinn's tongue easily because they all knew she was known for being very straight faced and serious in real life. On screen she could just ooze whatever emotions she needed to display, or even be an emotional blank when such a scene came up. She almost never smiled unless it was for a role she was playing but here she was, looking absolutely radiant beside Rachel Barbra Berry, Broadway Diva extraordinaire. Their charisma as a couple just screamed 'totally in love' to the audience and perhaps they were right about just that. Perhaps this couple pretending just hadn't realized something so obvious that the audience picked up on immediately. Or maybe this was all just for pretend and they were just that good at their professions.

No one was entirely sure what songs they were expecting from the two women. Rachel sang _Taking Chances_ and the audience was in awe and rapture as they listened on to the diva belt out a beautiful rendition of the song that surprised even Quinn. She hadn't been expecting such a personal choice because this was something she had sung before but in regards to someone else. This was a song Quinn hadn't been expecting Rachel to sing about her, to her, right now. Quinn hadn't been anticipating singing anything at all because she hadn't expected anyone to find out that they had been a part of the Glee Club together. This was not something any of the Gleeks had helped them prepare for since they didn't think it was something the public would know about either.

Quinn's choice of song was _Dark Side_ and her soft voice had the audience swooning over her soft voice. Rachel herself was surprised by Quinn's choice of song because it was such a personal song and it showed her vulnerable side, something Quinn was not known for. Quinn was more often known for hiding her feelings behind an empty, cold mask, emotionless for all to see unless they knew the small things that Quinn's face let slip. The usual giveaways were the color of her eyes and the emotions she couldn't quite hide, couldn't quite manage to conceal from her face. Otherwise no one really knew what Quinn was thinking or how she was feeling other than Brittany and Santana. Rachel was the only other person who ever seemed to be able to see through Quinn's defenses and actually _see_ her for who she was. And as Quinn sang Rachel saw something flashing in Quinn's eyes that she couldn't quite understand. It was something that she really wanted to know the meaning of. She wanted to know what emotion it was Quinn was displaying.

Okay so sorry about the long way guys! I've been sick and at least it's been less than three weeks!^^ Please tell me your thoughts on this chapter!^^ Anyone actually figure out what Quinn's secret is? The whole secret and not just one part of it? Please tell me your thoughts by leaving me some reviews!^^

姫宮光る


	4. Songs About You

Chapter 4

Songs About You

X

It had been a long time coming … this moment that led to Quinn singing about her insecurities to none other than Rachel Barbra Berry yet again somehow. It seemed like the only thing she ever did around the brunette after all: have some of the most vulnerable moments around her and cry her eyes out like there was no tomorrow and confess all of her insecurities to her as if she was a long time friend, a close friend, when in reality they were anything but.

It was something she could never understand. What they always did was fight like cats and dogs, argue about everything when they spoke to each other which more often than not resulted in raised voices and the feeling of regret for Quinn. She always felt more emotions around Rachel than anyone else she had ever met in her life. She was normally as emotive as a cold, hard, and unyielding stone wall on the best of days and that included when she was stressed out. Around Rachel though? Frustration: you bet. Annoyance: more times than she could remember and that was with someone like the high strung Latina as her second in command. Anger: almost every time they spoke. Guilt: more often than she cared to admit. Regret: most definitely. How about joy though? Maybe once or twice during Quinn's hard life Rachel had made her feel that way … not that she'd readily admit it of course … or the fact that it had actually been much more than an occasion or two. The diva was actually quite humorous even when she didn't intend to be.

The truth was that for most people the blonde knew she showed as little emotions as possible, or more accurately they only brought out very few emotions from her. With Rachel it was an entirely different matter. Santana most often annoyed, frustrated, and vexed Quinn with every word that left her mouth, as was the way with Santana and most every person she interacted with. It was second nature for the Latina to treat people the way she did. When she said cutting things to others it was usually just meant as a joke, just jest, unless it was a certain person with a name starting with an F. He was an entirely different story because he garnered such hatred from her due to his unforgivable betrayal years ago when he came out for her their senior year of high school. It was still very much a sore spot between them and they never amended things because Santana felt that Finn had never truly made a heartfelt effort to actually apologize to her. She felt singing Girls Wanna Have Fun as an acoustic ballad was not nearly sincere enough as an apology and the fact that the actual words 'I'm sorry' had never been uttered just added to the fact and her ire with him. He was a spoiled brat who always got what he wanted and never had to apologize for any of his wrong doings and everyone always forgave him but not Santana, not this time.

Kurt had a glint in his eyes as he listened to the words being exchanged between everyone in the room, all of the ideas. Santana, surprisingly enough, was actually being quite helpful and insightful instead of antagonizing them like most everyone in the room expected her to as it was a norm for her. She was just saying, "don't act overly sweet Quinn or no one will believe you because you're known for being an 'Ice Queen' and all that jazz. Just show small signs of affection that show that you adore Rachel but are small enough so that it fits with the image that the public has of you. There's a very delicate line between what will be perceived as authentic and genuine affection and purely acting between both of you. For Rachel, she can be as affectionate as she wants and no one will know any different because she has been quoted as affectionate and warm by her co-stars in magazine articles and all of that shit." It was surprising to everyone present how insightful Santana was being in regards to public image.

"Dude how do you even know all of that?" Puck asked incredulously. His eyes were wide in surprise. Most of the others hid their surprise better than him but were still surprised either way.

"I work in the business, what do you think?" Santana asked snidely and Puck scowled in response but didn't say anything further. He knew he would get a swift slap on the head from someone in response, most likely Santana or Mercedes herself. Santana because she would slap him and Mercedes because Mercedes was a diva herself still, even to this day. Most of the girls, and Kurt, were and he wouldn't put it passed any of them not to smack him upside the head and so he kept his mouth, wisely, shut even as he glowered darkly at Santana's sharp statement.

"How should we proceed if the host asks any questions about our past or makes an outrageous request or anything of the like?" Rachel asked a nervous edge to her voice, not foolish enough to pass up Santana's advice.

Quinn and Rachel had been surprisingly quiet throughout the exchange, as many of the others in the room noticed but made no comment about. They were all just waiting for an explosion of epic proportions from the two well known enemies from high school to tentative acquaintances after years of separation from each other. They were never close so when they all arrived at the hotel room they knew for sure that the article was merely titillation for the public and that though Quinn and Rachel might have done _something_ in the very room they were all sitting or standing in, in varying states, they knew that Quinn and Rachel were not, in fact, in love and were just caught doing something they shouldn't have. Many celebrities had done something they shouldn't have and had been caught as well … it usually just wasn't nearly as serious as the predicament of these two impossible women. They had never had a s scandal before and now here they were, fresh in the aftermath of one.

What were critically acclaimed stars like them to do? Act like they were in truly in love? Absolutely! Did they have to like it one bit whatsoever though? Definitely not! Did they have to be careful and watch out for men hidden in bushes with their cameras sticking out of said bushes and hoping that the two actresses didn't notice the flash going off as they took pictures? Probably every day and night for the next few weeks, unfortunately, for the not couple but soon to be married stars. They had to be extremely careful every step of the way and make sure no one caught them doing something … _again_. That would just be one too many times for everyone's sake. Friends they may all be but this was a troublesome situation; convincing several million people that _these_ two women were in love? It would be easier to prove that the Pope was a sex addict considering how they constantly antagonized each other and fought over the same boys when they were still in high school.

There was a constant push and pull between them. They pushed each other to be better, no matter how coincidental it was, and they constantly pushed each other to the brink of insanity and the point of creating a nuclear explosion. Then there was the pull between them. No matter how irritated, annoyed, and antagonized Quinn claimed to be by the Broadway Diva she could never seem to stay away from her. There was some kind of pull that kept them together despite the fact that they claimed otherwise. In Rachel's case she kept offering friendship to Quinn despite the fact that Quinn rejected them each and every time without fail for various reasons that Quinn herself didn't know. It could have been for various reasons that the blonde was oblivious to, or perhaps just entirely in denial about. One being that she truly did hate the diva, but just who was she trying to fool here? A second being that she just couldn't get assed the feelings of guilt she had over how she had treated her in the past, now we're getting somewhere! Or perhaps the third and maybe most unlikely reason; she was in denial about everything, about her true feelings for the diva. There was no way that was the reason because why would she have felt so compelled to make Rachel's high school experience so miserable and lonely? By all means she could have left the girl be to her own devices and been the HBIC, Cheerios Captain, and Celibacy Club President all on her own. Heck Quinn could have _chosen_ to have sex after ensuring her boyfriends were so drunk they would never be able to remember who they had sex with after they passed out but she never let things get that far… ever. She always cited her religious beliefs to her boyfriends with wandering hands … and yet here she was … finally losing her virginity at 25 to one Rachel Barbra Berry for reasons she could not fathom though from the way Santana was looking at her it seemed like she knew something. The way the Latina offered her advice so freely and easily was also slightly disconcerting considering her usually abrasive and cavalier personality even if she had softened over the years. They were frenemies in the beginning of high school but closer to the end their friendship really started to take place. The most defining facto being how Quinn treated her during her most vulnerable moment: coming out. That was a defining moment in their lives and now here they were: real friends.

Santana's lips were pursed in thought for a moment before she finally responded softly, "I know this is going to be something you don't really understand but … act as naturally as possible while you act like a couple in love." Santana was completely right in what she was saying despite the confused looks on most everyone's faces from processing what she was saying. "Act how you normally do but make sure you still act like a couple instead of former mortal enemies or whatever. Just make sure that you don't overly exaggerate anything and if they request something 'outrageous' judge for yourself whether you think it's something in character with how you normally are." She paused for a moment to let it sink in before she continued, "and if the past is brought up just tell the truth but don't go into full details because that can trap you severely, unless the truth is something beneficial as opposed to detrimental." Okay so maybe writing scripts had helped Santana improve her vocabulary because she had never used those words in a sentence before in her life that any of the Gleeks knew of … other than Brittany maybe.

"Not to sound rude but … since when did you start speaking so eloquently?" Rachel asked hesitantly. She didn't want to get punched in the face after all. The Latina had once threatened to punch her in the face, more specifically her nose, if she didn't shut up. Rachel, also, never forgot how the Latina once lunged at her when Mr. Schuester was once sick and she took it upon herself as Glee Club Captain to take over the Glee lesson. That did not go over well with the temperamental Latina but what made it all worse and aggravated her more was the fact that Rachel had used it as an opportunity to tell the club that _they_ would be choosing songs for _her_ to sing at Sectionals. Needless to say the Latina lunged and the tiny diva shrieked in terror as Quinn and Brittany held back the struggling and infuriated Latina read to go all 'Lima Heights Adjacent' on the tiny diva.

Santana's scowl of displeasure was evident as she looked at Rachel but surprisingly didn't snap back scathingly. She instead just spoke calmly and spoke in her typical speak instead of the much more sophisticated way she had just been speaking. "I can speaks however I wants to and that college degree ain't just for decoration, you gots that Berry?" Even more surprising was the fact that she didn't even insult Rachel and referred to her by her last name instead of any derogatory nicknames everyone in the room knew she normally said in replacement of Rachel's actual name, first or last. This was a far cry from high school Santana who was spiteful and harsh. She was not the crass, rude, and intimidating girl she had once been. This was Santana as a woman and no the girl so afraid of being vulnerable she hid behind sarcastic remarks that bordered on being scathing and spiteful, or perhaps were but no one was ever sure if she was joking or not. The Santana of the present was mature and relaxed everything she was not in high school.

"I apologize if my question was rude or offended you in anyway." Rachel said softly while looking at the Latina.

Santana just shrugged her shoulders before looking back at her. "I ain't bugging now. I'm over petty grudges and being mad at the world … and wheel chair bound people with names starting with Art," everyone looked at Artie simultaneously, "for the most part." Artie looked away from all of the attention and cleared his throat.

Everyone was at a loss as to what to do now that a silence had fallen over the hotel suite. Quinn had been disconcertingly silent throughout all of the exchange, though she had always been more of an observer than a person interacting in social situations. When it became apparent that no one had anything else to really say Puck piped up, "so … what happens now?" while he looked around the room of silent, contemplative faces.

"How about we play Uno?" Mike offered hesitantly when it appeared as if no one else was going to break the silence. That was successful in getting a response, however surprised it was, from someone in the group and it was the most unexpected person.

"You have Uno cards with you?" Quinn asked with absolutely no inflection in her tone of voice but her infamous Fabray Eyebrow Raise was present on her face as she asked, giving the illusion that she was in fact showing some kind of emotion.

Mike's face tinted pink slightly as he nodded his head. "I always bring them with me when I visit because I play with my younger cousins all of the time when I come to visit." He explained, "it's really fun and we all get really competitive when we're playing! It's really fun when we have a chain of plus 2 or plus 4 going on because then the person who ends up with it will have at least an extra 10 cards in their hands and they'll end up playing 3 or 4 cards at once! It's really great guys!" Mike said excitedly and Tina nodded sedately but with a smile on her face next to him.

"It really is a lot of fun. I love playing with his younger cousins and some of them are even older than us by a few years. They _really_ get into it when they're plying and they're all really competitive." Tina's eyes were wide to emphasis her point.

"Well then, hell yeah man! Why not?" Puck shouted into the room with surprising enthusiasm considering he didn't really seem like the good, clean fun card game type. He seemed more like the type to play strip poker or Texas Hold 'Em instead of innocent Uno.

"So you got enough cards for all of us," she paused and counted everyone in the room. Mike, Matt, Tina, Mercedes, Puck, Sam, Kurt, Blaine, Brittany, Quinn, Rachel, Artie, and Santana were in the room. That meant that there was 13 people in the room and she was skeptical that Mike could possibly have enough cards for so many people to play the card game because she knew from her childhood with Brittany and Quinn that the amount of cards in a deck were only enough for at most ten players and that was a bit of a stretch.

Mike had two decks of cards with him at all times when he was in Lima visiting. The reason he always had two decks of cards with him was because he never knew how many cousins he would end up playing with so having extra cards was a necessity so everyone could play.

After Mike, the acting dealer finished passing out all of the cards into piles of seven for everyone present and the rules were explained the game began. It was evident within the first few moves that Rachel had OCD and not the kind that was deemed cute by most of the group. After the first person placed their card, Tina, it was Sam's turn and just as soon as he pulled his hand away from the pile of two Rachel's hand was reaching out to turn the card around so that they were both facing the same way. No one really minded but a few raised their eyebrows in response to the action in thoughtfulness. They were all curious as to how often she would be doing that.

After the first round everyone was showing varying emotions with varying degrees to them. Some of the group was highly amused, Quinn, Santana, and Puck were. Santana and Puck planned on purposefully placing the cards in the 'wrong direction' every time it was their turn. Quinn herself decided to place her cards the 'right way' every time it was her turn because she could tell what Santana was planning based on her facial expression. Quinn thought it was adorable that Rachel was bothered by something as simple as cards facing in different directions and the fact that she could tell just by looking at the cards just made it all the more endearing to the blonde. Kurt, Mercedes, and Tina were all used to it, though they had forgotten about it because it had been years since they played card games together. Mercedes was always annoyed by the OCD aspect of Rachel's personality but she dealt with it after discovering that nothing would deter her from making sure everything was facing the same way during card games. It was just a fact that if they weren't facing the same way Rachel refused to let others have their turn. And so Kurt, Mercedes, and Tina, knowing this about Rachel, weren't the least bit surprised by the fact that having twelve other players didn't deter the diva in the slightest in the daunting task of making sure all of the cards were facing the same direction.

Rachel was in her corner and oblivious to the fact that Puck and Santana were deliberately placing their cards in the opposite direction as all of the other cards until another four rounds went by. Brittany was the only person who didn't really understand what Rachel was doing by moving the cards around the way she was because she wasn't really paying attention to what way they were all facing and just figured it was one of Rachel's 'quirks', as Santana put it. Brittany just put her cards down how most other people would, without care about which way the cards were facing and so sometimes her card was facing the 'right way' along with the other cards and other times it was not. It was all luck of the draw in Brittany's case, fortunately and unfortunately for one Rachel Barbra Berry. At first she just played along with the game and watched all of the cards to make sure that all of the cards were facing the same way and she thought nothing about the fact that she only had to move two or three cards around per turn until low and behold a fourth round passed and the same two people placed their cards in the opposite direction as everyone else. The moment Rachel realized this fact about the two mischievous pair every time their turn came up she drew out the process of ensuring all of the cards were stacked neatly and every card facing the same way and because they were sitting next to each other, Puck's turn was before Artie's and Santana's and the Latina's amusement started growing into annoyance instead. The little diva was playing with her! The Broadway star was playing her and the Latina had to give her props for outsmarting her so subtly.

Puck found it even more amusing because the player next to him was one of the 'rule' followers and he, Artie, made sure to place his cards in the same direction as everyone else, other than Puck. He was glad that they were set up around a table so it was easier for him to move forward and place a card despite how big their circle was. They were even luckier for the fact that the table was so big that they could all sit around it comfortable instead of having to sit on the floor and probably lack any personal space between each other from having to squish in close to each other just to make sure everyone could reach into the pile. This was mostly for the benefit of Artie because he wouldn't have been able to play otherwise without inconveniencing someone else throughout the game. It made it much easier when all someone had to do was slide a card down so someone else could put it down for the other person.

They were currently having a skip marathon going on throughout the slightly chaotic room with several different people going into a skipping frenzy. At one point someone played four skip cards, that someone being Rachel because Puck, Artie, Santana, and Brittany were the four after her, and two of the four skipped parties glowered at her in response. She sat smugly next to Quinn, smirking at them because she finally got another little piece of revenge from the two people aggravating her. It appeared as if no matter how grown up and mature Santana became she still enjoyed antagonizing people and annoying them in any way she could and she did so with finesse and ease. Puck was one of the few who would always be a child at heart no matter what age he was and the teenager in him was never going to grow up. Brittany, an innocent victim in Rachel's revenge, just pouted where she sat because she was skipped but she perked up when Santana gave her cheek a soft, tender kiss, causing a smile to bloom over her once slightly gloomy features and someone to cough, Puck, 'whipped' into his hand. Santana slapped him upside the head in response. Artie himself was rather indifferent to being skipped since it made the round go faster even if he didn't get to put a card down.

"Damn girl! You don't have to smack me so hard!" He said, rubbing his now slightly sore and stinging head. Many of the women present rolled their eyes at Puck's words and Santana smacking him upside the head. This was such typical of the two that everyone felt a wave of nostalgia hit them in response to the familiarity of their interaction. It was like seeing something from childhood and feeling reminiscent of what that time meant for them and it meant a many things for everyone there. For some of them it was a time of utter loneliness being broken by the feeling of belonging and finding who they were as people and finding the courage to step forward and tell everyone who they were without feeling ashamed for being themselves. This was a time many relationships were born and then when their course had run died an honorable, or pitiful, death and then new relationships were formed from there on. This was a time when all of them were still growing up and finding who they were and finding the path to their fearful and uncertain, for the most part, futures.

"San, it's not nice to hit people," the blonde admonished with a slightly disapproving furrow of her eyebrows as she looked at the Latina with a little frown touching at her lips. If no one was paying close attention they wouldn't be able to see the very slight quirk of her lips and the twinkling in her eyes that belied the chiding words and tone to her voice.

It was actually a very warming scene after all of the drama that unfolded between the two lovers considering how broken up Santana was during her senior year after her abuela rejected her and then the drama of Santana breaking up with Brittany during her freshman year of college whereas Brittany stayed back for a repeat of her senior year. It had been a hard year for them both because Brittany, surprisingly enough, had been the one to bounce back with a relationship first between the two despite the fact that she kept telling Santana that she wouldn't give up on them and that she was just waiting for Santana to accept that they were meant for each other. Since Santana had been the one to break things off everyone had expected her to find someone else first but Brittany started dating Sam. No one really knew what happened after that because then they all lost touch with each other since life kept moving along despite the fact that no one was really ready for time to keep moving whether they were ready for it or not … but it continued despite whatever hang ups going on in their lives and what problems they were facing. This was all a part of growing up and finding their place in life. No one was ever sure what direction their life was going to go even as it happened to them. This was part of what made the future so terrifying for some people, especially the ones growing up in a small town with no true aspirations … other than Rachel Barbra Berry of course. She was probably the exception to that rule that caused the exception to extend to the lives of those she touched the most … for the most part anyways. It was the thought that counted even if the gift was somewhat lacking. At least that was what the saying was.

The game seemed to drag on because every time an Uno was shouted victoriously by someone, before someone else could call it and ensure another few rounds before someone else was shouting it, that same person was ganged up on with multiple plus 2s or plus 4 wilds coming out or even skip or reverse cards. The reverse cards caused a hugely chaotic confusion amongst the Gleeks when a single person played multiple ones over the number of two because they would have to count out how many there were and then point in the direction of the change with each card until there were none left. This was especially hard for Brittany when it came up because she was the only player in the game who wasn't competitive and didn't seem to be in the game as entirely as everyone else was. Brittany was competitive only when it came to certain things in her life and those things consisted of dancing, under circumstances when it wasn't for fun, and winning competitions. And there was the occasional time or two when she wanted to prove to Santana that she was way hotter than anyone else Santana had ever dared to be with during the time they weren't together, and that had been two people at most if Santana's memory was to be trusted while heavily intoxicated.

Rachel was currently smirking into her single card. She had only just declared Uno and she knew, without a single doubt in her mind, that there was no possible way anyone could possibly think of preventing her from winning this game that had been going on for far too long without a single winner. The cards had to be shuffled twice already and there were two decks in play for goodness sakes! How long could a game of luck like this possibly take? Well there was _some_ form of strategy to the game but not much that couldn't be done without luck of the draw to begin with. Rachel was digressing though. There were only two people left before she would take her inevitable turn for victory over this prolonged game. Scratch that this ridiculously prolonged game.

Kurt had just made his move after a slight debate over what card he would play next and he looked over at Quinn with a look right before he played it, silently communicating with her. Rachel felt something stir within her, something fluttering at the look on Quinn's face during their silent exchange. Rachel knew the feeling immediately to be jealousy but what was she jealous over? From the way her stomach was fluttering uncomfortably it had to have been how easily Kurt seemed to be communicating with Quinn and how she seemed to easily reciprocate with silent communication of her own despite the fact that _Rachel_ was his best friend and not Quinn. Rachel realized with a little start that Quinn was no longer looking at Kurt and there was a smirk on her face as she looked at Rachel, waiting for her to come out of her thoughts and look down at the card she had just played. Rachel's jaw dropped open and she just stared for the better part of a minute before she looked up from her staring contest with the very evil green skip card that had just been played into the twinkling and mischievous eyes of one very smug Quinn Fabray. It was only a moment later when Rachel's look of complete and utter shock turned into a scowl attempting to hide the slight quirk of her lips. She knew that as soon as Quinn realized Rachel had terrible OCD when it came to her incessant need to make sure all of the cards were facing the same way she placed all of her cards in the same direction of the other cards but this one time she hadn't and Rachel knew without a doubt it had been on purpose to tease her. _Well played Fabray, well played indeed. Not only did she manage to delay my inevitable victory in this protracted game she also managed to do so with flair and smugness in the form of purposely antagonizing me. Well I shall win yet!_

This was the first time Puck had had to actually endure the wait before being able to put his card down because Rachel made a huff of annoyance before straightening the cards out, almost unnecessarily because they were still stacked neatly, and righting the one offending card that was purposefully placed in the opposite direction of what Rachel's OCD allowed for. Santana felt a small measure of pleasure in this because now Puck knew exactly how she felt every time she had to sit there and wait for the diva to sort out the cards the way she wanted to … or rather felt the need to do because of her damn mental issues showing. Santana had always said that the Broadway Diva was insane, crazy, off her rockers, weird, and basically any word or phrase that amounted to the diva needing to seek out psychological help and perhaps Rachel did need someone to help balance out her crazy and she just didn't know who yet, or rather didn't realize that that very person who could do it was sitting right next to her at this very moment. Santana was scheming though. Santana knew how to pull strings because she wasn't just a high school cheerleader's second in command anymore. She had power now, more than everyone, other than Brittany, really knew about and she was definitely going to do it to see her girl happy after everything she had discovered that horrible day before freshman year even started. She would do this for the love of her best friend and all of the things she had gone through because of that bible quoting, hypocrite, and grade A scumbag known as Russell Fabray.

X

"Okay … so at this time we would like to take the time to allow a few audience members to ask some questions they've been dying to know and maybe even fulfill a request or two." The host said with a smile on his face when they came back from commercial break. "This is, of course, only if it is appropriate and if the soon to be wed, Quinn Fabray, and Rachel Berry are up to it and deem it an amenable request." The filled audience area hooted, cat called, wolf whistled, clapped, and shouted or screamed their approval of such a thing. "And it is up to the both of you to call upon the person to ask the questions you will be answering." He added when neither of them gave him any indication as to whether they were acquiescing to the request. Quinn tensed slightly next to Rachel, so slightly that had Rachel not been paying close attention to her she would have never noticed. The fact that their hands were intertwined helped alert the diva to the very slight change in the usually stoic blonde.

Rachel gently tugged on the warm hand she was holding and Quinn looked over at her. They communicated silently in the way they had become accustomed to in the last week and a half before the interview. They spent the last 11 days getting to know each other in two very different cities. They spent the first day in a hotel together despite the fact that they had dropped their things off at their respective families' homes and left for the semi-annual Gleek reunion. Rachel had come to the reunion with Blaine and Kurt since they were already at her house and she didn't want to waste any gas and Quinn had come on her own and they ended up leaving together on foot. They were stranded at the hotel until the other Gleeks came along so in a way Quinn and Rachel should have been grateful for the fact that they showed up, even if Santana did interrogate them both thoroughly before, Quinn more than Rachel, before dragging a reluctant blonde out of her hiding place with a little more force than necessary. The first few days they were back, they came back on different days, were relaxed and worry free. After that god awful day from hell in which Quinn and Rachel drank far too much alcohol and didn't realize that they were making probably the biggest mistake in their lives by not being wary of anybody possibly following them, like the creepiest creep and sleaziest of all sleazy reporters Jacob Ben Israel, they were put in a terrible position. The worst thing about the entire situation was that Quinn and Rachel were anything but friends with each other. There might have been a time when that little fact could have been reversed but there was a lot of bad history between both of them and the rest of their stay in Lima, after they left the hotel and went to visit each other's families, had been an even worse situation for both parties for different reasons.

X

Quinn insisted in seeing Rachel's family first because she wanted to soften the blow by going with the lesser of two evils first and that might have been the best option but even then it wasn't an easy choice nor had it been anything like a picnic in a park. It had been awful for Quinn because despite the fact that the Berry men had no qualms about Rachel bringing a woman home with her as opposed to a boyfriend they were less than thrilled to see that the former blonde cheerleader was the soon to be fiancée that Rachel decided to bring home. The Berry men had never felt less impressed in their life and though they tried to be civil toward Quinn but the moment Quinn left the room they were in to give them the moment they asked of her to give them alone with their daughter. It wasn't a second longer than she was no longer in the same room as them when she heard her fathers' attempt to whisper to her but the shorter one, Hiram, was hissing so loudly and with such disapproval in his tone that Quinn couldn't help but hear every word of his anger and incredulity. Leroy, though just as disapproving, was silent during the entire heated diatribe about how often they had to comfort Rachel after she came home from being slushied or from her seeing cruel messages on MySpace in response to her weekly recorded videos of her singing her heart out. Quinn felt her chest constricting in pain over the sudden reminders of her past behavior and every regret and mistake she ever made in her life. She absolutely despised herself for every single thing she had ever done to hurt the diva furiously defending her despite the fact that she didn't deserve a single word of kindness from her. Tears were shining in her eyes when the final straw came: the voice of a very loud and livid Hiram shouted so loudly his voice bled clearly into the next room Quinn was currently occupying, "she is a sorry excuse for a human being for everything she has ever done to you! She doesn't deserve the forgiveness of my angel, our daughter, Leroy! People write songs about you for good reasons Rachel because you're an inspiration but … women like her … they write songs about how horrible she is and how much hurt she causes others." Leroy finally started protesting because as much as he disliked Quinn and her past actions Hiram was becoming far too emotional and it was clouding his judgment and everything he was saying was straying from the original point he had been trying to make.

"Hiram … stop! This is … this isn't what you think and you know it! This isn't you speaking … this is your anger and this is your pent up frustration from years of not expressing your emotions properly because you were more concerned about how you were going to make things better for Rachel at home instead of talking about this from the source directly!" There was a small pause before Leroy spoke again, as if he had taken a moment to let his words sink into the recesses of Hiram's mind as he actually listened instead of interrupting like they all knew he wanted to at some point. "You're mad at Quinn … I understand that but I also know that you know these things that she did, they were all done when she was still a teenager. She did it while she was still growing up and learning how to deal with whatever stress she had to deal with. You don't know what she might have gone through and—"

Hiram interjected at this point, flushed with renewed anger, "what _she_ might have gone through? What about our Rachel? What about our little girl and all of the tears she's shed over that … over that _she-devil_ currently sitting in our living ro—" the sound of a door slamming shut and a car engine starting cut Hiram's sentence short and there was barely a second before Rachel was running out of the door only to see that Quinn hadn't moved from her spot in the driveway and she felt immense relief at the sight of Quinn just sitting in her car. However what broke her heart was the sight of Quinn slumped forward in the driver's seat with her head resting against the steering wheel and the aura of immense pain radiating from her still form. There was a defeated slump in her shoulders and she was shaking terribly for reasons that Rachel could only imagine. She looked so broken in that moment that Rachel couldn't help but come closer to her silently shaking form despite the fact that the cold wintry wind and softly falling snowflakes were biting against her skin because she neglected to grab a coat and her feet felt just as cold with only flimsy socks covering her feet to protect her against the cold stone she was walking on top of in her need to get to the hurting blonde, to a very vulnerable Quinn.

When Rachel finally made it to the window she tapped gently on the window and Quinn's body froze entirely before she lifted her head slowly to look up into worried warm brown eyes. Quinn's eyes were a turbulent hazel mixture of green and gold with different flecks of brown in them that Rachel had never noticed before this very moment. She always knew that Quinn had beautiful eyes but never had they been this color before, this specific medley of different colors blending and contrasting against each other in the most stunning and aesthetically pleasing way possible. Rachel's breath was momentarily stolen from her at the sight of the beautiful blonde, who looked so angelic, with pain clearly reflecting in her stormy eyes. There were no traces of tears on her face but her eyes were wet and shiny with the salty substance and Rachel felt a jolt of pain stabbing through her chest at the sight of despair in her eyes even as her face remained as stoic as it ever was. It was like the sight of a rose with raindrops falling down from the petal like the tears it couldn't cry on its own and it was this thought that moved Rachel into action, into speaking.

"Quinn … will you please let me in?" Rachel asked, her question having a deeper meaning than just asking Quinn's permission to allow Rachel entrance into the car. Quinn closed her eyes for a single moment to compose herself and the moment she opened her eyes again her tears were no longer present in her eyes but the sorrow was still evident and caused a sharp tug in Rachel's chest to see such an emotion in the normally stoic blonde's eyes. Even in her sorrowful gaze Quinn was gorgeous, despairingly angelic. There was a moment when they just looked at each other, their gazes locked in a meaningful way, before the moment was broken by the sound of a door opening in the direction of the house and they both looked to see that Rachel's tall and broadly built father was standing at the door. Before Quinn or Leroy could react Rachel was on the other side of the car and tugging incessantly at the door until the shock wore off of Quinn from having heard the sound of the door opening and she automatically unlocked the door for the diva before realizing what she had done.

"What …?" Quinn trailed off, still slightly thrown off by what just happened, and just looked over to where Rachel was and watched as she proceeded to lock the door.

"I am actually sure that if I stood outside for even a moment longer I would have contracted some kind of illness because, as you can see, I left the house without a coat on and I also lack shoes though I do fortunately have socks on. Did you know that oftentimes a person who walks without any shoes on is likely to contract some horrible diseases such as gangrene or other such potentially dangerous and life threatening diseases due to their exposure to the bacteria on the ground had they had any cuts or received any kind of open wound? That could have very well have been me if I had run on the pavement chasing after you with only socks on my feet as my protection from such things." Leave it to Rachel to give Quinn a lecture on the dangers of walking without shoes to protect her feet. This actually amused Quinn highly and she let out a very elegant snort despite the oxymoronic nature of those words being used one right after the other. There was just something about Rachel's ranting tendencies that Quinn found entirely too endearing even though she tried to play off her amusement as annoyance in the past. There was just no way for her to do this now as she found Rachel far too adorable in this private moment between them.

They were both brought out of their little bubble of looking into each other's eyes by the sound of a knock on the passenger side window and they both saw the tall figure of one Leroy Berry. His statuesque figure was slightly alarming at first because of harsh shadows that stretched from the little light source from the streetlight in their yard. After the initial feeling of being startled they both looked at each other once again in silent communication, Quinn's face stoic but her hazel eyes speaking for her. Quinn was trying to suppress her emotions in her eyes but the color of her eyes, the majority of it showing gold, told Rachel more than she needed to know. Quinn was feeling insecure and afraid right now and Rachel reached her hand out to take hold of the blonde's hand firmly and yet gently, more gently than Quinn had ever felt a hand on her own when it was not her own mother or Brittany or Santana on rare occasions. This hand was even gentler than all of their hands and the warmth she felt from this single hand made her feel something inside that she had never felt before. She knew that for a single moment the vulnerability had shown on her face and her reaction to Rachel had been noticed by the diva who had been watching her face intently. Quinn had slipped up because if the soft and warm look on Rachel's face was indicating what Quinn thought it was … Rachel had seen something, had noticed something that Quinn didn't ever want to show _anyone_ because that look was one of her own weakness. Weakness was not a trait a Fabray ever let anyone else witness no matter what dire situation said Fabray was in … but even so Quinn was sure she had done just the opposite of that.

"Are you girls all right?" Leroy's voice brought them out of yet another tender glance between them and they both looked over to him yet again and he had a coat and a pair of shoes in his hands. "Rachel, you'll catch a cold or worse, pneumonia, if you don't keep yourself warmer and put something on to protect yourself from this bitter cold. There is at least two feet of snow on the ground for goodness sakes! What were you thinking rushing out of the house like that without any kind of winter protection?" Leroy's voice was only slightly muffled by the window and so Rachel gave her father a sheepish smile as she ducked her head and Quinn couldn't help the gentle smile that graced her lips at seeing their interaction. The Berry men seemed like such loving fathers … and her heart ached at seeing and hearing such affection and concern being shown in such a simple reprimand. It was something she hadn't seen from her own family since she was a young child … before it was evident that there was something truly different about her.

"Daddy, please. I'm in a warm car with Quinn so I'll be okay for now. I just … I need a few minutes with Quinn." Rachel's window was only open the tiniest crack and yet Quinn could still see Rachel shivering slightly because she only had a silk red dress on and Quinn had a long sleeved white v neck with a casual grey sweater vest with diamond patterns on to keep her warm. Quinn immediately took her hand out of Rachel's gently, causing the diva to look over to her with surprise, and she watched as Quinn took the sweater vest off of her body and passed it over to her. "Quinn … what are you—" Rachel wasn't able to finish because the blonde interrupted her gently.

"You … I don't want you to get sick and I have a warm cotton v neck so I should be okay. Your dress is thin and silk isn't a good insulator and it is well below freezing outside." Rachel looked over at Quinn with a slightly speechless and flabbergasted expression on her face, and luckily her father didn't see it or seem to notice the exchange of emotion between the two. He was in his own world of shock because of the blonde's chivalry and unexpectedly kind gesture toward the diva he had thought she hated because of all of the torture and horror stories his daughter had told about the blonde's vicious wrath. To see the woman he expected to be aloof, cutting, and uncaring, from how Rachel had described her, show such an unexpectedly concerned gesture with a gentle look on her face threw him for a loop, a very, very strange loop. Leroy actually couldn't hear anything the blonde said because her voice was too soft and muffled by the enclosed space of the car but just seeing her facial expression and seeing what she was doing caused him to become thrown because all of this was something he wasn't expecting in the least. Not based off of the stories he had heard Rachel tell about her high school experiences with the blonde. He understood that high school was a different time but even so this change seemed very drastic and sudden because all he had ever known about the blonde was what he heard from his daughter and briefly seeing her at the Glee competitions and all of that was at least six years ago, a long six years. Things were constantly changing in the world. Every second something was happening in the world and so six years could change a great many things. He lost his train of thought when he heard his daughter's voice again.

"I'll be okay now daddy. Quinn has kindly given me her sweater vest to keep the chill at bay and I am in a warm car." He looked into the car to see that she did indeed have the grey sweater vest on her body. "I … Quinn and I really need to have a moment to ourselves to talk. I would be very grateful if you could give us a few minutes to talk to each other in private." Rachel was looking up at her father with pleading eyes and he knew, deep down in his heart, that there was something more to this visit than what he had been able to gather so far between the two women, which was not much at all and so vague he wasn't sure why the blonde was even here in the first place. He knew they needed to talk without the unfamiliar and uncontrollable elements of a childhood home and two very unsure fathers. He nodded his acquiesce and started on his trek back to the house before her voice stopped him for but a moment. "Please tell dad that he need not worry about what Quinn might do to me because she isn't going to try and hurt me." He stopped for just a moment as the words registered in his brain before he nodded, turned his head toward his daughter, and gave her a cheesy thumbs up and smile. Rachel rolled her eyes at his antics but felt warmth in her chest at the gesture all the same. Leroy was always the easygoing father and the gentle giant in the house whereas Hiram was the emotional one. They balanced each other out more often than not and so the dynamic just worked out perfectly. Basically Leroy balanced out Hiram's crazy and they were the most in love couple out of all the parents Quinn had met in her life, and she had met almost all of them because of the fact that she had in fact been kicked out of her home before.

Quinn was broken out of her reverie by the touch of a warm hand on her own hand and a soft voice speaking in gentle tones, soothing her frayed nerves more than she cared to admit. "Quinn … Hiram, my father who was yelling earlier, has always been the more emotional one between my two fathers. Oftentimes one would think any travesty that has transpired against me was a direct insult to him instead." Rachel gave a slight pause and Quinn was silent and riveted by the serene beauty in this moment between them. The moonlight was shining on Rachel's face, illuminating her in a beautiful glow of white and making her tan skin seem a little lighter than its usual shade. It was a majestic beauty Quinn was looking upon and it was in that moment that Quinn realized something that she probably knew all along but would never admit to if questioned: she was attracted to Rachel Berry. Not just that … she was _very_ attracted to Rachel Berry because she was the most beautiful woman Quinn had ever seen in her entire existence and she knew that at five years old and she knew that now. She had known that in high school and still she insulted every part of Rachel she found beautiful and endearing to the point of obsessive behavior.

A shaky breath was inhaled by the blonde and Rachel's hand squeezed hers in encouragement and comfort. "I … I understood that after the first few words that were exchanged between the both of you while I was sitting in the other room. He wasn't exactly as quiet as he thought he was and you've never been very good at being quiet when you're passionate about something." This caused a little chuckle out of Rachel at the honesty and sincerity in Quinn's voice and words. "I … I'm not even sure why you defended me so much all things considering." Quinn's voice was so soft and so vulnerable, unlike Rachel had ever heard it before. "I … I've done so many terrible things to you and I … there's just so much regret in me over all of those horrible things I said and the cruel things I did to you. I feel as if I could never apologize enough to actually earn any sort of forgiveness from you because I've just done so much. The words 'I'm sorry,' would just feel too insincere and cliché for it to be of use in showing how truly and genuinely sorry I am about everything that has ever transpired between us. It feels as if there are no words I can say to convey to you all of the regrets I have and … though actions speak louder than words I don't know what to do either let alone what to say to you." And that was what made Rachel forgive her.

"This is exactly why I forgive you Quinn, this very reason right here. Because you said what you said I can believe that you are being very sincere and honest and earnest in your apology and in expressing how you feel anything and everything you say as inadequate just proves to me more than anything else that you truly regret what you've said and done to me in the past. The past is the past and without a past there is no future Quinn. Our past led us to this future no matter how uncertain absolutely frightening it is at times." Their intense gazes were locked and neither could look away. "Something led us to this very moment and now we just have to find our way through the maze we've created for ourselves in our lives." Quinn couldn't believe how forgiving this woman sitting before her was. She knew, had she been in Rachel's shoes and had to marry her tormentor, she would not have been so forgiving, understanding, or nearly half as kind. Quinn had never felt safer with anyone knowing her secret, or at least knowing the partial secret. "We just have to navigate through it and … if things don't work out we have a divorce to look forward to in another year when the contract is up." And something about those words struck Quinn so fiercely, despite Rachel's light and joking tone, she felt as if she had just lost her breath and couldn't breathe for a moment, like she was gasping for air.

There was the sound of a shutter and a flash of light that caught them both unawares and they both turned to the source to find that no one other than Jacob Ben Israel was creepily standing in front of Quinn's car, taking picture after picture of them. Quinn's anger got the better of her and she put her car into drive and he noticed that the car lurched forward dangerously close to him and he ran off screaming bloody murder, and sounding very much like a woman, at the look of pure HBIC attitude and fury rolling off of the blonde in waves. She put the car back into park as soon as she was sure that he was no longer anywhere near them, she had been watching his entirely ridiculous escape. He had his arms flailing in the air, like the idiot he was, while he screamed and ran into a lamp post, as if he hadn't seen it coming, which effectively silenced his screaming for a single moment before he started running again, his camera completely smashing into bits and pieces from the impact of him ramming into the pole housing the street lamp at the top. His footprints could be seen in the snow and as well as the mold of his body's imprint by the pole. It would have been for more amusing for the blonde if she hadn't been having such an emotional talk with the diva sitting next to her. Rachel was actually smiling though and she looked as if she was trying to hold back her laughter until she couldn't hold it in anymore at the sight of her fathers rushing out of the house from having heard a high pitched scream similar to Rachel's own.

They looked out onto the street wildly until they realized that Quinn's car was still parked on their driveway and Rachel was still very much in the passenger seat. They looked at each other and then back at Rachel and passed the car to the still fresh footprints left in the snow and followed the tracks to the visible body shape impression and looked at each other again before shaking their heads and walking back into the house, leaving the blonde and brunette alone once again. This caused a soft giggle to leave Rachel's mouth because it was obvious that her fathers both realized that the screaming had not in fact been her and that in and of itself was strange considering how high pitched the screamers screeching scream was. Rachel knew that her talk with Quinn was not over yet but she needed a moment to gather her thoughts herself. There was just something about this situation that was so delicate, as if a single wrong word and they would both shatter. That was how Rachel felt at least.

"Quinn," Rachel paused, the words feeling and tasting like acid as she forced them passed her unwilling tongue, "I know that I … I'm not the easiest person and you never really liked me but," Rachel closed her eyes as she forced herself to persevere and continue. "I can promise you that I won't make this any harder on you than it has to be. I will be as complying as possible in this situation and whatever it is you need me to be I will be for you."

Rachel's eyes fluttered open upon feeling the soft and gentle touch of two warm hands on her face, cupping it in a way Rachel would never have expected. "This isn't your burden alone Rachel. We both have to make many sacrifices in the next few months and possibly for the next year because we both made a mistake. I … if it makes you more comfortable I can move to New York and we can take things slowly from there. It can be as soon as we're done with all of the interviews I'm sure we'll have to endure for the next few months or it can be after New Years is over or whenever it is you feel ready. I know that this is something we have to do together because we're both caught up in this situation we've created for each other. It wasn't just you … it was me too and so I am willing to do whatever it takes to make this arrangement work." Quinn knew that her gay was showing as Santana would put it. Quinn knew that she liked girls from a young age but she had never felt anything like she felt for the diva. There were times in her life she had found others attractive but not to the extent of the diva sitting next to her. Rachel was everything she could ever want and more but she was never going to burden the diva with her feelings like that. As cruel as Quinn had been to the diva in the past she had always regretted those actions and when she was no longer dependent on her parents she swore to become a better person to the diva if she ever met her again. She was making sure of that by saying what she was saying now. She would do whatever it took to make up for everything she had ever done to the diva undeserving of such cruelty.

"I suppose that we are both agreeing to this wholeheartedly then? It's a year of marriage Quinn. It's a major commitment and we're both in this for more than that because that's just the contract alone, granted we have yet to sign it. Are you … are you certain that this is truly what you want: a year married to me?" Rachel asked with heaviness to her voice that she had tried to avoid this entire conversation. It was so difficult to keep it at bay forever and so she couldn't help how loaded her question ended up being.

Quinn barely hesitated before she nodded once with a firm "yes," slipping through from her parted lips with determination evident in her voice. There wasn't really anything else to say after all. "In another four days we'll be leaving this city and heading to New York together so we can get the contract squared away and taken care of as well as spend New Year's Eve and New Year's Day together. We will have almost a week to get to know each other before our first interview, of many, is scheduled to happen in New York." Rachel nodded her head in understanding, feeling slight nerves already about that first interview. "My family … they will be much worse to deal with Rachel. I honestly think your father was quite tame compared to what my father will have to say to cut us both down. I don't even think we should even bother going to my family to announce our engagement to them because of the ramifications and bloodshed that might occur there."

"I highly doubt it will be as horrible as you think it is Quinn." Rachel said with a slightly amused tone, "honestly, and _I'm_ the diva and drama queen." Rachel said with a haughty shake of her head.

"Rachel … do you … I mean … um," Quinn wasn't sure how to say what she wanted to say right now but she had to say it somehow to clarify everything. Rachel reached out to Quinn and took a hold of her hand again and gave it a reassuring squeeze to help encourage Quinn and give her some support. Quinn took a deep breath in before slowly exhaling a shaky breath and her words came out a bit quickly but Rachel managed to make out what it was Quinn had said. "Do you know what I am?" Quinn's words were only slightly rushed and said through an exhale of air, surprisingly considering how nervous she was about the whole situation.

Rachel gave it thought before she answered slowly, "you … um … from what I know I think you are … intersex?" Rachel gave an inflection indicating a question despite the fact that she was answering a question Quinn herself had asked which made the blonde's lips curl up the tiniest bit into a small smile. It was adorable when Rachel was shy and unsure of herself.

Quinn gave a nod before continuing on with what she was going to say before her courage left her, "I have both." She almost didn't say anything more but she felt a rare moment of openness come over her and she continued. "My parents … they didn't realize at first when I was born because they both just thought that I was a boy until I started getting a bit older … and it became apparent that I had much more feminine features. They had me go to the doctors when I was about two years old to figure out what was wrong with me and the doctors told them that nothing was wrong and that I was just born with both chromosomes and that there was absolutely nothing to fix because I wasn't broken and I wasn't mistakenly born with both. I just was and they had to accept it until I was old enough to decide what I wanted because there was no way they were going to traumatize me and possibly murder me just so my father could have what he wanted. They were very adamant about it and every hospital he called within a 100 mile range refused him the very same way because they all thought it was selfish and the risk of severe injury to me was too high and so I grew up this way." Rachel was left speechless for the first time in her life and it showed. "Wow." Quinn said softly into the silent air.

"Wh-what?" Rachel asked self-consciously.

"I managed to make the verbose diva speechless for the first time in her life just now … maybe I should take a picture to capture this moment and put captions under the picture saying: 'The day Rachel Barbra Berry was rendered speechless,' and see how many times someone will re-tweet it on Twitter and maybe I'll even put it up on instagram too!" Quinn was far too amused by this and Rachel glared at Quinn's smirking face despite the warmth that was surfacing on her cheeks from her embarrassment and perhaps something else as well.

"Well … it's not every day I hear something so unique and hear about the atrocious behavior of my fiancée's family so of course I would be left speechless by such horrid and hateful behavior. It's no wonder that you never learned how to properly deal with your emotions as a child and grew up to be someone with such a fierce mask of arctic proportions!" How Rachel was able to say this entire sentence in a single breath amazed Quinn with the thought of Rachel's breath control. Years of hard work and practicing really brought Rachel to have great finesse in this area … then again it was something Rachel managed to do even as early as middle school. Quinn was broken out of her train of thought by Rachel's voice, "I think we have now managed to work through our problems sufficiently and can now exit this car to the warmth of my childhood home Quinn." Quinn merely nodded and turned her engine off.

When they first exited the car Quinn didn't immediately follow Rachel but rather made a path in the snow to where a still very visible body print had been left in the snow and she leaned over and took hold of the broken camera. Quinn knew that this camera had more ammunition against them and so she moved it around until she found the memory card slot and took the memory card out of it to ensure that JBI wouldn't be writing another ridiculous and damaging article with more pictures as proof to whatever claims he chose to make this time.

"Are you coming Quinn?" Rachel called loudly enough for Quinn to hear but not so loudly that it would bother her neighbors. Quinn took a quick glance around for any traces of anything out of the ordinary, mainly camera flashes, and when she deemed the coast clear she made her way back to the steps leading up to the intimidating house resident of three Berrys and two thirds of which were very high strung. "There you are!" Rachel said from her spot on the porch. "What were you doing Quinn?" Rachel asked curiously.

Quinn held her hand out and smiled as a flash of recognition and gratitude passed over Rachel's features. "He can't write anything without any proof now, can he?" Quinn's smirk was decidedly devious and Rachel's breath caught in her throat at the beautiful sight of a much more carefree Quinn than the one she had been interacting with in the safety and privacy of Quinn's yellow car. There were many things they had yet to discuss but that could wait until a later date.

X

They both came to the same conclusion and finally looked to the audience and a single hand was raised boldly into the air when they looked over. Rachel pointed to the person and spoke up softly, "yes Miss, your question?" Rachel had a pleasant smile and a soft disposition as she answered though on the inside she was feeling quite a bit of panic.

"How did you both meet and fall in love?" She asked with eagerness in her voice.

There was one word on their minds as the question registered in their brains: _fuck!_

X

So this chapter was _really_ long and the longest chapter I've ever written for a story with well over 11,800 words as the final count. I really hope everyone enjoys the update despite how long it took but honestly I didn't have my laptop for three weeks while it was being fixed so it was worse for me probably. The total cost was $264.97.T.T Also I will be in MD starting Friday for a little mini vacation so I'll see you all next time!^^ I had 2,789 words written on my phone so essentially about 23% of this chapter was written during the three weeks I didn't have my laptop. Enjoy and I expect some reviews to show me some love or else I will be entirely upset considering there are nearly 80 people following this story visibly!

姫宮光るより


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